Premonitions
by Prismatism
Summary: Only one thing is inevitable in a demigod's future. Death. However, it is the uncertainty in life that gives joy and fun to Percy as he avoids that one inevitability. When he finds a way to subvert this impending death, how will his life, and the life of those around him, change.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Aquamarine eyes blinked open softly. The uneven gravel trail below the car had jolted him awake, and he began to take note of his surroundings. Annabeth and Thalia giggled in the backseat as his mom completed an embarrassing story of his childhood. He had managed to ignore their chatter for the majority of the long journey from Brooklyn to the northeast coast of Maine, opting instead to get some shuteye in preparation for their late-night rescue operation.

It had been surprising when Thalia and Annabeth had shown up to his apartment unannounced the weekend before Percy's winter break holiday from school. The two of them had been together at an all-girls private school in Brooklyn. Their teacher, Chiron had wanted Thalia to stay near camp following the events of last summer, and Annabeth was stationed with her to help her readjust to the new environment. Not that the younger girl was complaining, he figured. She likely would have given anything for the chance to reconnect with one of her best friends, whom she had thought died for her sake.

Oh yeah, by the way, the three teenagers were demigods. The offspring of Greek deities' flings and affections towards mortals. Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, the King of Olympus, had been, until recent events, a tree. After making a stand to defend her friends from monsters while journeying to Camp Half-Blood, she had died. But before she could take her last breath, Zeus took pity on her and transformed her to a large pine tree at the top of a hill, acting as a beacon and protective barrier for the half-blood haven.

Demigods lived dangerous lives. At the young age of fourteen, Percy had already been through enough perilous adventures to make the most hardened of combat veterans nervous. The threat of an early death was an ever-looming consequence of their half-godly blood. In exchange for superhuman-like abilities, they were threatened by all the dangers of the Greek pantheon, all the while lacking the immortality of their progenitors.

No one understood the mortality of demigods better than Annabeth. At the young age of seven, the daughter of Athena was saved by Thalia's sacrifice. In the next five years, Annabeth trained within Camp Half-Blood under the tutelage of the immortal centaur Chiron to prepare for the dangers of the mythological world. After Percy arrival at camp, she was given the opportunity to join him on a cross-country quest to stop the destruction of the world via an Olympian civil war. Then, just one year later, she joined him again on a quest, this time to discover a cure for the dying pine tree fueled by her old comrade.

Because of this, Thalia's resurrection was her dream come true. Or at least, one of her dreams come true. Percy figured there was a certain _other_ childhood friend whom the daughter of Athena wished she could reconnect with.

Putting thoughts of the disgraced son of Hermes out of his mind, Percy set his eyes upon the foreboding castle that appeared before them as they emerged from a forest trail. Westover Hall stood tall, its black stone marring the picturesque snowy cliffside. Annabeth looked on, her mouth agape in adoration at the unique architecture and her mind running at one thousand miles per hour as she committed the view to memory. Thalia, on the other hand, had a less enthusiastic reaction. Wiping the condensation away from her passenger window, she gave an uneasy laugh. "Oh yeah. This'll be fun."

The demigod trio exited their iron chariot, bidding their motherly chauffeur adieu. The two girls slogged through the deep snow on the way to their rendezvous point, aka the front doors, and a trailing Percy hoped that neither of his companions noticed that his red cheeks weren't from the sharp chill of the wind. Thalia then decided to break the silence that had fallen over them after Percy had dismissed his overly talkative, but ultimately well-intentioned, mom out of embarrassment. "Your mom is so cool, Percy."

At that remark, his cheeks grew even hotter in embarrassment. He of course agreed, but for whatever reason felt the need to appear cool in front of the older girl and tried to avoid the label of mommy's boy. "Yeah, I guess. She's pretty okay," he admitted as he turned his neck to face Thalia. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"

He immediately regretted his question, as he noticed how Thalia's eyes narrowed and darted towards his, her lips pursing together in a sharp frown. He should have known not to barge into this personal territory with the newly resurrected girl, especially with the proclivity of half-blood families to be… broken. Percy knew that despite his difficult childhood dealing with his abusive ex-stepfather, he had been lucky to have a caring parent in his mother. Many of his friends, especially those who stayed year-round at Camp Half-Blood, couldn't say the same. From the looks of Thalia's harsh glare, she similarly couldn't say the same.

Percy wanted to say he wasn't intimidated by the girl, but Thalia had a particular style and attitude that was built for intimidation. Despite the cold, she wore a cropped army green jacket over a black tank-top declaring _Death to Barbie_ and ripped jeans. Yet she didn't show any sign of the weather disturbing her. Her studded ears were exposed to the air thanks to her raven black pixie cut hair. Her pale face was matted with a few freckles, almost giving way to a soft doe-like face, but the delicate image was destroyed by her eyes.

Her eyes glowed like bright blue ionized clouds, radiating a promise of pain to anyone who dared get on her bad side. The sky-blue orbs were rimmed by black eyeliner, creating a barrier between the girl's soft pale skin and fierce eyes.

Still, despite his trepidation, Percy did not cower behind her angry gaze. Thalia seemed to grow even more pissed at this defiance and began speaking, "If that was any of your business, Percy– "

"We'd better get inside. Grover will be waiting." Annabeth cut into their mostly silent battle, recognizing the tension that had been created by Percy's idiotic questioning. The son of Poseidon gave an internal message of thanks to Annabeth and let out a breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding. While it was unlikely Thalia would escalate things to an all-out brawl at the risk of the mission, Annabeth's distraction was a welcome deterrent to any ass-kicking the daughter of Zeus might have been tempted to hand out.

Thalia looked at the castle before them and shivered, though whether it was from nerves or her light clothing, Percy was unsure. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

Percy glanced at the crest emblazoned on the large oak doors which led into the military academy, Westover Hall. He felt his body shudder as he became suddenly light-headed. He blinked to clear his vision, but could only see flashes before him, like a cloudy dream. He saw himself on the snowy cliffside, shielding Thalia from something overhead. The dream shifted, and he saw arrows shooting from somewhere within the forest which flanked the opposite side of the academy. Another shift, and he saw Annabeth clinging onto a monster. A final shift, and he saw himself screaming and running towards the cliff but collapsing before reaching the rocky edge.

As quick as the dizzy spell came, it passed. Judging by the lack of action or questioning by his companions, very little time, if any, had truly passed. He shook his head. It was just nerves. He knew a battle likely awaited, so his anxious mind must have unconsciously created some worst possible outcome. He just needed to concentrate on the mission, and deal with any monster when it decided to appear.

The trio opened the old oak doors and entered the castle.

* * *

Percy was _not_ jealous.

He wasn't jealous that Grover had called Thalia for help despite sharing an empathy link with Percy. He wasn't jealous that Thalia had easily handled the two teachers who had confronted the demigod trespassers while he had floundered for words. He wasn't jealous that Chiron had taught a secret technique to control the mist to Thalia in the two months she had spent at Camp Half-Blood despite never teaching him, or even mentioning such a skill existed, in the six summer months he had spent at camp over the past two years. He most definitely was not jealous that Annabeth and Grover now looked to Thalia for guidance and leadership as they debated a plan for rescuing the two half-blood siblings the satyr had sniffed out.

No, Percy was not jealous _at all_.

He repeated this lie in his mind while half-paying attention to Grover's intel, and suddenly had a clever thought.

"Grover, you said there's a dance going on, right? And this is a super strict military academy?" Percy questioned with a small smile at his ingenuity.

"Uh huh."

"So, this is the one time all year where all the kids get to cut loose? And the half-bloods are at the dance?"

"Yeah."

"Then we should be able to blend in easily. We can split into two groups. Since Grover actually goes here and Thalia's style blends in with the students, I'll go with Thalia and Annabeth can go with Grover. Grover can keep in touch with me through our empathy link and let us know if anything comes up."

Percy glanced at Annabeth. She caught his eye for a second, and Percy thought he saw a slight frown on her face. It wasn't exactly what he wanted. He didn't dislike Thalia, but for some reason, he felt like he would have much preferred getting to dance with Annabeth. Still, he needed to talk to Thalia, and it really was the best way to blend in. Despite her slightly furrowed eyebrows, Annabeth nodded in agreement. If a plan made sense to the daughter of Athena, then it was sure to be reasonable.

Grover noted her approval and continued, "Okay, well make sure you stay wary with Dr. Thorn. He's a monster."

Thalia sighed and started rubbing her silver bracelet. "Figures. I didn't think he was fooled by the mist. But he must not want to make a scene. Just make sure you don't let the kids leave the dance."

With that, the Greek group entered the gymnasium and started their search for the di Angelo siblings. Percy and Thalia shifted their way into the crowd of raucous middle schoolers. While Thalia seemed to easily blend in with the mortals around him, Percy felt himself standing out. He had been to dances before, but as the weird guy that shifted schools every year, he never really had friends to hang out with at dances, let alone a girl to dance with. Normally, he would just stand off to the side and find a way to entertain himself either playing basketball or just eating snacks while listening to music.

"Hey Kelp Head, are you gonna dance or not?"

Thalia's teasing brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked her in the eyes for the first time since they entered the castle. "Listen, Thalia. I'm sorry about bringing up your mom outside. I should have known better than to – "

"Percy, just… forget about it." Thalia's interruption stopped Percy in his tracks. "We just need to get through this mission." Fluorescent disco lights that shined down on the dancefloor, lighting her black hair various colors of the rainbow. He found it hard to avert his eyes from the older girl as his mind conflicted with thoughts of guilt. Not just for his introduction of a touchy subject, but also at his prior jealousy towards a girl who likely was just happy to be breathing air as a human again.

Still, he felt as though he should question her on her snap. "Thalia, what exactly was that mist controlling thing?"

She seemed surprised by his question. It seemed her prior shocked comment that Chiron hadn't taught him the power was genuine. "So, you really weren't ever shown by Chiron. I would have figured as the presumed child of the Great Prophecy, he would have made sure you knew how to Snap. It's really not all that complicated."

Percy tried not to look embarrassed and was thankful for the gymnasium's poor lighting. He didn't blame Chiron. When he was first discovered as the son of Poseidon, he was almost immediately sent on a quest. This left him in a position that made it hard to acclimate to life around camp in the first summer, focusing more on learning what life was like at the demigod camp instead of training. The following summer, Chiron had been canned, replaced by Tantalus under fraudulent claims of betrayal, and by the time he had been reinstated, it took only a week before Thalia had been reborn and Percy was no longer the child of the Great Prophecy.

Despite this, he wanted to learn this aptly named Snap. Even if he wasn't _the child of the Great Prophecy_, he was a child of the Big Three and a soldier in the fight against the rising Titan King Kronos.

"You remember how the air changed before I snapped back in the entry hall?" Thalia questioned as she began explaining the mechanics behind the technique. "That was actually part of my powers as a daughter of Zeus. It turns out it's not just blow-up shit with lightning. I can kinda control the air and wind around me."

This was news to Percy. In the few spars he had with Thalia after she had been declared fit enough for battle near the end of summer, she hadn't shown any control over wind. He recalled one instance of her nearly frying him with a lightning bolt and another of her actually frying Clarisse, but no other displays of her godly heritage. Still, now that she mentioned it, it made sense for a daughter of the Lord of the Sky.

"Alright, that makes sense. But what does that have to do with controlling the mist?"

"Well… I don't really understand all of the complicated stuff behind it, but from what Chiron said, the mist is basically a magical veil that feeds off of the energy of the gods. By using my powers, I'm able to tap into that magical veil and manipulate it as I see fit. I can only do small stuff, like mental manipulation of mortals, but more practiced magicians can take it even further. The wind aspect is for stealth. It wouldn't really do much to fool mortals if I was simultaneously blowing up a car behind them with some lightning, so I tap into other aspects of my power."

"So, what's with the snap? Is that some sort of way you focus the veil?"

"Pretty much. I basically use it to measure out in my mind where my intended manipulation ends. Like, I think to myself 'Make these stupid mortal teachers believe that we're students at this school,' then snap, poof, bam, and we're in. You wanna try it out for yourself? You could probably do something minor to make those girls stop staring at you."

She pointed her finger at a group of girls that were huddled up in a group a short way away. They were drenched in heaps of makeup and dressed in… basically nothing, actually.

"Shit, they must know we're party crashing. I think you should handle it Thalia. It would ruin the mission if I screwed up and they told a teacher."

Thalia had an amused smile on her face. "Relax Kelp Head. They don't care about us crashing the party. In fact, they seem happy." The smile drifted off of her face, "A little _too_ happy."

Percy was confused. "Then why are they staring?"

His dance partner looked unamused. "Seriously Percy? They're staring at you because you're hot."

Percy cheeks turned a deep crimson color. "Not funny Thals."

"I'm serious Kelp-for-Brains."

"Come on Thalia, I think I'd know if I was hot. I'm just an anti-social loner."

"Okay well first of all, you're hot. Get over it. It comes with being part god. You're hot. I'm hot. And as I'm sure you've noticed, Annabeth is H-O-T, hot!"

If Percy grew any redder, he would think he had turned into one of Apollo's sacred cows. He may have agreed with her last two sentences, but knew he had to argue her first assertion. But before he could find the words to contradict her, she continued.

"Second of all, you might be anti-social in the mortal world, but you sure as Hades aren't at Camp Half-Blood."

Percy faltered. She kinda had a point. In just two summers, Percy had molded himself a unique role in the demigod camp. He was a contradiction. Young and untrained, yet experienced and probably one of the best fighters in recent history. He lived alone in his cabin but spent nearly every campfire surrounded by friends. And despite never being in a relationship, he had somehow become unanimously appointed as the ideal shoulder to cry on, ear to listen to troubles, and advisor for pursuits of love.

"And lastly, you are going to learn the Snap. It's easy, and there won't even be any consequence if you screw up. Just give it a try and give us some privacy," she finished with a wink, making Percy blush again.

He sighed in defeat. There was no use arguing with Thalia. Just like her father, she was relentlessly stubborn. He concentrated his thoughts on privacy and mimicked his dance partner's previous motions while drawing upon a feeling of concentrated power in his gut.

He heard a soft splash and the sound of girls shrieking. Looking back at the gaggle of gawking girls, he saw them soaked head to toe in water. They wailed loudly at their ruined outfits and looked around for a culprit, yet never once glanced in the direction of Percy and Thalia. "It worked?! Hey Thalia, it worked!"

He turned to his partner who covered her face with her hand, seemingly trying to hide a laugh.

"I swear to the gods Percy… didn't I tell you to be discrete with your power?" she said with a wide grin peeking out from behind her hand.

Percy sheepishly scratched his head while nodding. "Well yeah. I'm not entirely sure what I could have focused on to be discrete. It's not like I can control the winds."

"You'd be surprised, Kelp Head. Chiron told me a bit about Poseidon when teaching me about my powers. While my dad is pretty solidly up in the air and Uncle Hades is stuck down on the ground, Poseidon has a bit of leeway in his domains. Maybe you could make a mini-hurricane or something one day."

It made sense. He still remembered when he had been claimed by his father around a year and a half ago. One of the titles Chiron had given his dad was Earthshaker. That wasn't a very aquatic name at all.

"Next time. Try something a little bit drier," Thalia drawled in amusement.

* * *

During their search throughout the gymnasium, the two demigods began to chatter about their fall semesters away from camp. For Percy, it had been another experience of struggling to understand concepts in class while simultaneously struggling to be social with his peers. Still, it wasn't all dreadful. Annabeth had given him dozens of study tips to try to combat his dyslexia and ADHD, and it had shown in his grade. He had improved enough that his mom had allowed him to join the school swim team, with the caveat of "keeping it amateur."

Basically, don't cheat. As a son of Poseidon, Percy could blow out Olympic athletes (the mortal sports competition, not his extended family) in any aquatic race. So, he had to hold back in his swimming. He wasn't allowed to control water currents to push him forwards (or his opponents back), and most of all, he had to remember to breathe. Well, pretend to breathe.

Thalia's return to public school went about as well as Percy would have expected. The rebellious girl already tended to… defy authority. Mix that in with a healthy dose of dyslexia, ADHD, several years of missed education, and an overly strict private academy, and you had… incidents. Several incidents.

…

"Wait. You had to Snap to stop your principal for expelling you… in the first week of classes?"

"What, I wasn't going to be caught dead in that awful uniform. I think the alterations I made were long overdue."

…

"Really? A 12%..."

"Hey, I haven't been to school in ages. I'm not caught up in the material."

"It's gym class!"

…

"It's a boarding school. How can your dog eat your homework?"

"Okay, so it wasn't my best excuse. But it wasn't my worst."

"I don't even want to know."

…

"I thought you said there was a monster threat! You mean a slept over that night for nothing!"

"Not for nothing. We were bored. And the 'no boys' rule is ridiculous, honestly. It's not like anything happened."

"We played truth or dare until 3am with your hallmates! I kissed at least four girls that night!"

"You weren't the only one. And besides, you liked it."

"That's not the point Thalia."

"Oh, come on, lighten up. What if I told you it was Annabeth's idea?"

"I'd say bullshit."

"Really. You think I'd think of the excuse of needing 'more mortal scent to mask our presence' to invite the other girls over?"

"Well…"

"Just face it Perce. Annabeth isn't a goody-two-shoes all the time."

"I still can't believe Annabeth got detention for that. She never gets detention."

"Obviously, she thought it was worth the risk."

* * *

It was over an hour later when Percy finally caught sight of their target. Standing in the shadow of the bleachers was a girl, slightly younger than himself, who seemed to be annoyed. Next to her was a younger boy, holding up a set of cards to the girl, while happily explaining something with a little too much energy. The two kids were obviously siblings. They shared an olive complexion and deep midnight black hair, as well as the same small, upturned nose and high cheekbones.

As Percy stared at the siblings, the girl seemed to notice his gaze, turning to meet his eyes. He was met with fierce black pools, reflecting in the changing lights of the gym. It was a fierceness he had grown familiar with. A gaze which confirmed his suspicions of their godly blood. Grabbing Thalia's attention, he directed her to the di Angelos, but as he turned back toward their direction, he found them missing.

Looking around in surprise and worry, he tried to find out where they had disappeared to. He cursed his recklessness, fearing he had scared them away by staring, but before he could berate himself, Thalia began moving towards the exit of the gym, calling on him to follow. Watching as the gym doors swung closed, he understood his partner's intention. If the di Angelos had fled the gym, they were more vulnerable to attack by Dr. Thorn.

Percy concentrated on his empathy link with Grover, attempting to tell the satyr about he and Thalia's actions. _Hold down the fort in the gym. We think the di Angelos just left. Try to find Thorn_.

Hot on Thalia's heels, the two sprinted through the halls in search of their fellow demigods. As they turned a corner into a dark corner, Percy saw a small object lying on the ground. A green hat. Percy cursed.

"Come on, this way. Thorn might have gotten to them," Percy took a pen out of his pocket, uncapping it to reveal a leaf-shaped sword radiating a dim golden light in the hallway. His weapon, Anaklusmos, had been given to him by Chiron before his first quest, and since that moment had been his trusty tool for all his monster slaying needs.

The two children of the Big Three walked down the hall carefully, until they reached a dead end with the di Angelos huddled in a corner in fright. Putting his sword at his side in what he hoped was a non-threatening manner, he carefully spoke, "Hey, Bianca and Nico, right? We don't mean any harm."

Thalia tried to step closer and held out a hand, "Don't worry, we just want to help. No one will get hurt."

Percy tried to look around the dark hall for any sign of the monster disguised as the Vice Principal… fitting. As he strained his eyes, a shudder ran through his body and he felt his vision blur as his arms grew shaky. His vision went a cloudy gray as he saw a silhouette of Thalia's shoulder being pinned to the wall before looking down at his chest at the sight of a bloody spike piercing his heart from behind. A blink later and his world became black again. Thalia was still standing and reaching out to the di Angelos.

What the…

His hair stood on its end. Something was wrong. He jumped into Thalia knocking her over as a spike flew overhead. It passed exactly where Thalia's right shoulder had been and impaled itself into the stone wall beside Bianca's head.

"Au contraire, Ms. Grace. I believe you will be hurt greatly."

* * *

**AN – Thank you for reading! My main goal of this story was to offer my own spin on Percy as a character… with a few additional elements. Some characters personalities may be altered slightly, and there will be a few minor events mentioned (as you hopefully read above). Let me know what you think about them. The focus of the story will not be romance, but I am writing teenagers, so there will be crushes, relationships, etc. **

**The story will not strictly follow the cannon storyline, but don't expect a tremendous amount of divergence right away.**

**WARNING – I will likely be terrible at keeping this story updated. I began writing this two years ago, I just didn't want to upload anything until I had several chapters outlined. I have a great deal of admiration for all of the writers who are able to churn out several thousand word chapters of amazing writing on a weekly basis, but I am still a very amateur writer, and my personal philosophy of taking as much time as needed to make a chapter an adequate quality will usurp my desire to release more for you wonderful readers. I apologize in advance for delays that will inevitably occur.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Vice Principals are evil. That had been Percy's mantra for years, long before he discovered his heritage and its dangers.

In his many, _many_ visits to school administrative offices, he had built up an understanding of the Vice Principal's role at a school. While the Principal was the school figurehead, responsible for making final decisions on punishment, they were merely a puppet for the whims of their subordinate. It was the VP who truly controlled the machinations of the school, lurking in the shadows and waiting for an unsuspecting black-haired boy to step his toe out of line.

Percy hated Vice Principals. Percy also hated monsters. And, well Percy didn't hate the French, but there was something about the mangling of his last name that grated his nerves. So, it was natural that Percy desired nothing more than to punch Thorn right in between his stupid little glasses.

The shadows of the hall still obscured the unknown monster's form, but in the dim light of his sword, Percy could make out his sneering face. The ugliness of the monster's attitude was only surpassed by the ugliness of the monster's face. Thin, rectangular glasses hung on the tip of his thick, round nose. Half of his sallow face was obscured, with the other half stark white, like the Moon reflecting light down onto the Earth at night. His gray hair was kept neat and trimmed, fitting the mold of the orderly military teacher, but the façade was shattered by messy facial hair. Bushy sideburns jutted out in front of his ears, leading down into a patchy beard.

When Percy had first seen Thorn in the entrance hall, his first thought was that the man was a wannabe soldier. A man who hadn't succeeded in the military, so he resigned himself to holding power over children. The man's predatorial heterochromatic eyes glinted in hatred from the first moment the son of Poseidon had opened his mouth. Originally, Percy had thought the man just recognized him as the type of student to be expelled from multiple schools. Now he realized it was more of a primal hatred.

Currently, the beast's eyes glowed in the darkness of the hall. One dark brown eye created a void in the pale light of Percy's sword, while a bright blue eye shined brightly in the blackness that obscured the monster's form.

"Well aren't I lucky today. Four demigods just for me."

Percy had a few arguments with that statement. He figured it was more a case of his abnormally constant bad luck making itself known again. Honestly, the idea of a plan going by smoothly without disasters was so foreign to Percy, it would have been considered a miracle if the extraction mission hadn't ended in mortal combat to the death.

Thalia rolled out from underneath Percy's shielding form and jumped to her feet in front of the cowering di Angelos with a fierce protective glare. "As if jackass. I'll make you eat shit if you even dare to touch these two."

"Now, now Ms. Grace. Such vile conversation is inappropriate for the present company," Thorn snidely commented, glancing at the young boy, Nico.

"Hey, I'm not some clueless baby, jackass!"

"Nico!" Bianca seemed torn between scolding her brother's language and encouraging his defiance in the face of danger.

The short conversation had given Percy the time he needed to join Thalia in front of the younger pair. They stood side by side with weapons drawn, ready to act with the slightest hint of movement.

Only, no movement ever came. Without even a slight shift in stance, two spikes shot from behind Thorn's cloaked face. Thalia quickly brought out her shield, Aegis, stopping one of the foot-long, bony spikes' momenta towards Nico. At the same time, Percy raised his blade to deflect the other, which shot in the direction of Bianca behind him. As he batted the barb to the ground, where it clattered across the dark hall harmlessly, a third spike quickly shot from underneath Thorn's right arm, piercing his left calf.

The tearing of skin sent a bright burning sensation through Percy's nerves, bringing him to his knees. He caught himself with his hands before he could fall all the way onto the floor, balancing his body as he attempted to regain control of his leg. Percy's entire lower leg was numb, and he couldn't roll his left ankle or wiggle his toes at all. To make things worse, he felt the burning sensation spread further through his body, traveling slowly up his leg to his upper thigh.

"Percy!" Thalia glanced at my fallen form with worry before returning her attention to the threat in front of her. It was clear that she couldn't protect both di Angelos behind her and Percy on her own against Thorn. His projectiles were too quick, and it was still unclear what exactly he was. With that in mind, she chose one of Percy's favorite tactics, stalling for time. "What do you want?"

"Why _ma ch__é__rie_, I thought you already knew. I am here to collect the two children."

Thalia glared fiercely at Thorn, "Bullshit. You wouldn't have posed as teacher for an entire semester just to get unguarded demigods. You were waiting for us."

"My, my. I guess conceitedness does run in the family. You think yourself so important that I would take such exorbitant time out of my busy schedule just to wait for a few puny demigods."

"No, I think myself not an idiot."

"And yet here you are, helplessly torn between guarding your comrade and the innocent. I doubt a genius would find themselves in such a pressing dilemma."

While the barbing words were obviously intended to poke at Thalia's insecurities, Percy felt them stab directly into him. He was the weak link right now. He was the one putting Thalia and the di Angelos in danger. If he could just stand up and fight, they'd regain an advantage over the monster, but without him, Thalia stood at an impasse.

He couldn't just sit here. He had to get up. He had to fight. He couldn't let two innocents die because of his incompetence. If he wanted to be jealous of Thalia's leadership, he first had to prove that he deserved leading.

But his leg just wouldn't listen to him. It wouldn't move. It just throbbed with pain, a constant pulsing burn. Like an undulating wave. Pain. Pain. Pain. The wave pounded from his leg to his gut then up to his brain. He closed his eyes and all he could see was the wave. It surrounded him. Pain. It flowed in orderly lines, like pipes. Pain. The wave traveled back down to his gut. It curled up into a familiar sensation of power. He reached his hand out and the wave extended out. The pain overwhelmed his head and he felt his vision cloud. The walls exploded and everything went dark.

* * *

Everything was covered in a hazy mist. The white snow-covered ground was only made more blinding by the cloudy white fog directly above it. His eyes strained to look across the white clearing, making out a blur of motion. Four figures ran in varied circles around a large creature with a long tail, while two others huddled together away from the fight. A flash filled his vision and his position within the clearing moved.

This time, his sight cleared to show Annabeth. She tightly gripped her knife with a determined look on her face. With a grim look in the direction of two of the other figures, who had ceased their movement and shrunk down as if guarding from danger, she seemed to make up her mind. While the creature, whom Percy recognized to be Thorn, focused his attention on the two downed figures, Annabeth sprinted across the snowy field before leaping onto the monster's back. Her legs wrapped around the quadruped's back as she took position like a jockey on a racehorse. She moved up to the monster's neck and readied her knife to slice through its head but was thrown off balance when Thorn jerked his attention behind him.

But he wasn't worried about Annabeth riding him like a bucking bronco. His eyes were focused in the direction of a hazy forest, as he appeared to scream out in indignation. He flicked thorns into the trees and was rewarded a hail of arrows in return. Annabeth luckily was not hit by any of the incoming projectiles, but unfortunately, the majority missed Thorn as well.

The world flashed again, and Percy was in a body. His own. He was huddled behind a snowy hill, standing protectively in front of Thalia. He quickly realized that they had been the two downed figures from before. His vision had cleared substantially from when the vision began, though perhaps it was simply because he wasn't fifty yards away from the action.

As he looked at Thorn, who still argued with the trees, he spotted a vehicle overhead. A helicopter? It made no sense. But that was the least of his worries. Thorn's argument had apparently ended with another hail of arrows, but rather than being made into a giant shish kebob, the monster had retreated to the cliff's edge. Percy started to grow worried. At this point, even if she wanted too, Annabeth couldn't get off the monster's back without likely being pushed to her doom. But whoever had been firing didn't seem to care.

A final volley of arrows covered the grey clouded sky and finally hit their target. Thorn was moved backwards as he flinched in pain before a rock beneath one of his hind legs gave out. He stumbled, and began moving backwards, gravity pulling him down the cliff and into the churning waves below.

Percy felt the haziness of the vision dissipate. The world was vivid again, but it still changed. His eyesight grew more and more saturated.

The world was a blur again, this time a mesh of colorful blobs, and he felt his body moving. He was sprinting. His mouth was open, but like the rest of the vision, no sound exited.

As he reached the cliff edge, he felt a tug, as his soul was yanked from the clearing.

* * *

Thalia was angry. Not because of the monster that was currently out for her blood.

Well… kinda because of the monster.

Thalia was angry because a certain son of Poseidon was too gods-damn heavy.

After the corridor around them had been flooded with water, shooting through the walls in all directions, Percy had completely collapsed. Luckily, Thorn had been carried by a current away from her and the di Angelos, leaving them time to make a retreat.

At the moment, Thalia was on one side of Percy, dragging him down the hall as delicately as she could with the help of Bianca, who took up the space on Percy's other side. The issue with this arrangement was that unfortunately, Bianca wasn't a heavily trained demigod.

While Thalia had used the past half year to regain her athletic form that had been lost over time thanks to her arboreous adventure, and Percy had the lean muscles of a heavily trained swimmer, Bianca stood as a rather frail teenage girl, stuck right in the middle of puberty. As such, her body was small, and could only assist so much in the transport of the male demigod to safety.

This left Thalia carrying the brunt of Percy's weight. And he was not light.

The younger di Angelo, Nico, had run ahead of the group. Thalia had told him to get Annabeth and Grover from the gymnasium, a task that she hoped wasn't too difficult for the little kid. She couldn't very well burst into the middle of the dance with the unconscious body of her friend without drawing a few suspicious eyes.

So instead, Nico was left to find and escort Annabeth and Grover to a side exit, while Bianca led her to the same exit. Once they were outside and regrouped, they would try to figure out a way to handle Thorn and evacuate the area.

Thalia and Bianca pushed through the side door, opening the dusty castle corridor to a rush of cold air from the northern winter night. They dragged Percy up against a wall outside the building and propped his body in a seated position. Thalia wasn't very proficient in first aid. Her knowledge began and ended at the use of ambrosia and nectar. Luckily, for demigods, those two things were enough to at least begin the healing process of non-severe wounds.

After a short while, Nico came out of the door with his convoy in tow. Spotting Percy's unconscious form, Annabeth and Grover quickly rushed to his side. Annabeth took charge of analyzing the wound on Percy's calf while Grover began playing a quick tune on his reed pipes. A bit of warmth surrounded the area, concentrated from Grover's pipes, and it was directed towards Percy. Nature magic.

"Thalia, what happened," Annabeth questioned, worried about what could make her friend pass out so quickly.

Thalia gave a quick explanation of the circumstances leading up to Percy being hit by a spike, and Annabeth started to concentrate, looking deep into her mind for a name of the monster. Projectile spikes thrown by something other than limbs. A lion-like face and heterochromatic eyes. And judging by the dark veins which ran up Percy's leg, poison.

"A manticore," Annabeth finally concluded. "That's the most likely monster anyway. And since he is such a strong monster, he's likely still alive. A quick flood isn't enough to take him out."

Nico's eyes lit up at Annabeth's words. "A manticore? He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

"Nico! This isn't some stupid game!" Bianca scolded. Her eyes traveled onto the son of Poseidon and looked worried, "Whatever is going on, it's real and it's dangerous."

Nico looked down, slightly sheepish.

"Now can you guys tell us what is happening? A manticore? If it's in Nico's card game, then it's from Greek mythology. You guys talked about demigods. What does that even mean?!"

Bianca's questions came out frantic and scared. Thalia couldn't blame them. The first exposure to the mythological world was always frightening. Still, they had more important things to worry about than placating the girl's fears. So, she gave them the condensed explanation. "You two are children of Greek gods. Yes, the one's from all the myths. The myths aren't myths, they're reality. Monsters are real. Thorn is a monster. Monsters hunt and try to kill demigods. Monsters can be killed temporarily, but they reform."

Bianca's face looked as if her mind had completely shut down. It said _'Bianca is re-booting. 33% complete.'_ Meanwhile, Nico's eyes lit up in intrigue. Apparently, he wasn't completely over his childish wonder.

Annabeth gave Bianca a soft smile, "We'll explain more to both of you when we're safe. We need to get to Camp Half-Blood. It's a safe home for demigods like us, protected from monsters by a barrier. But first, we need to deal with Thorn."

As if on cue, the former vice principal came crashing through the door they had come from. His once orderly hair was wet, wild and unkempt and his military style suit was soaked through. If the situation had been lighter, Thalia would have laughed at the monster's ridiculous image. But the lightheartedness was ruined by the piercing brown and blue eyes, which shined with unrestrained hatred.

Annabeth and Grover quickly took a defensive stance in front of Percy's body while Thalia, shield already drawn, protected the di Angelos once again. Thorn circled them, slowly walking until he stood so that they were trapped on one side by the walls of Westover Hall and on the other by Thorn himself. Knowing the monster's skill with projectiles, Thalia knew any pursuit to flee in either side direction would be short lived.

Thorn stood about thirty yards away from the demigods, in the center of the snowy clearing. Another thirty yards behind him was a rocky cliff with the Atlantic Ocean churning below. To the south, the cliff extended, curving around Westover Hall until it was obstructed by the building. About fifty yards to the north, the cliff disappeared behind a snowy forest.

"You foul demigods will learn to submit," Thorn practically growled. "The General will reward me greatly for this gift. The Great Stirring has begun, and I will not be left behind."

Thorn took a step forward and began to hunch over, his hand moving towards the ground as his back cracked as it distorted painfully. His entire body grew larger and larger until it reached the size of a small SUV. He was now standing on four muscular legs, body tensed as if preparing to pounce, and a long spiky tail protruded from his rear.

Annabeth's guess had been right on the money. A manticore.

* * *

Percy woke up and felt wet.

For most people, this would be worrying because it meant something happened to you in your sleep, like a friend pouring water on you as a prank. For Percy, this was worrying for entirely different reasons.

He didn't get wet.

Even when asleep, his body naturally kept him and his clothes dry. He had enough instances of the Stoll brothers attempting pranks on him when he fell asleep during monster theory lessons with Chiron to know so.

But now, as his eyes fluttered awake, he felt the dampness seep through the bottom of his pants. He was sitting against a wall in the snow.

Snow. He was sitting in the snow.

It might seem like a strange oversight on his part, but he had never explored whether his hydrokinetic powers had extended to snow. His minimal training with his godly powers was almost entirely done during the summer, either on quests across the country or at camp. During the school year in between, he made active efforts to suppress his water repellant abilities in order to not rouse any suspicion for arriving to class completely dry during a downpour.

Sitting in the snow now, he could feel that his powers, at least unconsciously, didn't allow him to escape from being wetted by melted snow. Slowly standing up, he felt a twinge in his left leg. A dull ache ran through his body, a reminder of the poison that had been in his blood, but the throbbing pain of before was gone. He concentrated for a second, willing the water to leave his body, and was pleased when the liquid splashed away onto the ground.

With the whole wet clothes issue resolved, Percy was able to focus on the action in front of him. Flanking both sides of the large monster some distance away from him were Annabeth and Thalia. Thalia had her shield and spear drawn while Annabeth ran around quickly with her knife in her hands. Grover was further away from the monster with his reed pipes in his mouth. He danced lightly while playing an unheard tune, putting his form protectively in front of the younger di Angelo siblings, who cowered together in an unmoving lump.

He moved forward in an attempt to join in on the fight, but quickly stopped. His prior wound was gone, but the lingering pain still dulled his senses.

Moving despite the throbbing sensations, Percy built up into a run. Pulling out his ballpoint pen and uncapping it, he remembered his recent gift from his half-brother Tyson.

With a quick button press on his watch worn on his left hand, a large metal shield unwound itself. Despite being held in the tiny device, the large shield was well constructed, with an intricate design of various monsters Percy and Tyson had encountered during their journey into the Sea of Monsters.

He still hadn't gotten completely comfortable with the shield. His swordsmanship was focused on quick, fluid movements within close combat invading the opponents guard and then retreating or dodging from the often greater reach of the enemy's weapon, which became difficult when incorporating the shield into his fighting, even though Tyson had managed to make the firm shield surprisingly lightweight.

Still, even with his lack of shield experience, he knew that the shield would be a great help when fending off a monster with the apparent projectile prowess of Thorn. He had already suffered from the lack of defensive capability of his sword, and he wasn't pressed to experience that again.

When Percy reached the battle between his friends and Thorn, he quickly met the gaze of Annabeth's piercing grey eyes. The daughter of Athena was the absolute authority on battle strategy in situations such as this. Not only did she likely have the best knowledge of the monster they were facing, she had been training at camp for seven years under the guidance of not only her sharp older siblings, but the wise and experienced trainer of heroes, Chiron.

The blonde girl smiled at seeing him back on his feet and quickly began to shift closer to his flank in order to communicate a plan. Thorn, however, was not foolish and recognized her attempts to council with the son of Poseidon. He launched a salvo of thorns from what Percy now realized was his tail. Luckily, Annabeth was agile enough to dodge the attack.

"Nice of you to show up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth teased with small smile which Percy couldn't help but return despite the monster a few yards from the pair. Life threatening situations had become too commonplace for him to avoid friendly teasing.

"Sorry I'm late, I was going to meet up with my date at the dance, but she seems to have run off. We didn't even get to slow dance to _American Idiot_ together."

"I may have run into her, what does she look like?"

"You know, blonde… smart…"

Percy would have continued by the loud scream of pain from Thorn brought his attention back to the matter at hand. Thalia had struck a glancing blow to the monster's front left leg. She looked over to her two fellow demigods and gave an annoyed scowl.

"Focus on being cute later. Focus on killing monsters now."

Annabeth's face returned to a more serious expression and she nodded, "Right. Percy, Thorn's a manticore. Do you remember that from monster studies?"

"Uh, somewhat. I remember it throws stuff with its tail, but, well, I can see that pretty clearly so that doesn't help much."

"Well, it's a good start. While the tail is the most concerning part and encompasses the entirety of Thorn's entire long-range combat options, you also need to watch out for basically the entire front half of his body. It has the body of a lion, and it can pounce on you with the same agility, if not greater, than the normal animal."

"I hate lion-faced monsters," Percy grumbled, remembering his experience with the infamous Chimera while touring the St. Louis Arch.

"Well it gets worse. Its tail is from a scorpion. You've felt its poison already. The thorns on the tail are its ammunition and it can throw them with barely a flick. And if you get too close, the tail can sting down and skewer you," explained Annabeth.

"So moral of the story is, tail bad," Percy quipped.

"How eloquent," Annabeth deadpanned.

"I try. So, what's the plan?" Percy asked

"Well there's a small safe region on its back. The tail can only bend so far since its thorns would cut and poison itself with too much flexion. If we were able to reach the back, we'd be able to attack without worry of attack. Too add to that, there's a large blind spot in its vision near its flank thanks to its mane. Even though its hearing is probably good enough to rectify that spot when its concentrating, Grover can take that away pretty easily with his music."

Percy considered it for a moment. When dealing with the more monstrous monsters, it was often hard to find weak points where a demigod's weapons can not only pierce the skin, but also do so without getting eaten, dismembered, or generally, destroyed. "Thalia and I both have shields, so we'd be the best choice for trying to get within the tail's blind spot."

"That's true, but you'd also both be the best choice to draw its attention away and defend against its thorns."

"Well yeah, but…" Percy's mind went back to his out of body experience from when he was passed out. Annabeth had jockeyed Thorn fairly successfully, but the intervention of some unknown archers had left her doomed.

He though back to his two previous visions. His first, a snowy clearing leading to a rocky cliff. He now realized that he stood in that very same clearing. His second, a thorn piercing Thalia and striking him fatally.

It was bizarre. Percy wasn't a stranger to prophetic dreams, but those were always just that… dreams. Not dizzy spells while in the middle of consciousness. But they had rung true so far. He had avoided a quick death at the hands of Thorn in the hallway, and here he was, standing at a crossroads in his life in the very clearing that had initiated his descent into prophetic confusion.

Annabeth took Percy's hesitance as an argument, "It's the best option. I'm the fastest and most used to getting within a monster's guard with my knife."

Percy wanted to scream. Annabeth was right. She was always right and on paper, it was a great plan. But Percy knew better. Perhaps he could try to talk her out of the idea diplomatically. They could still attempt the plan, but with him taking the duty of slipping inside Thorn's defense, he could make sure that in the instance where his vision came true, he could evacuate in time. And if all else fails, he was confident he could survive a fall into the relentless ocean below.

"Annabeth you can't be serious. You can't expect me to let you risk yourself like that."

"And you expect me to let you risk yourself instead?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I expect!"

As morbid as it was, it was strangely touching. Over their two quests in the prior summers, Annabeth and Percy had both put themselves in danger several times in order create an outlet of escape for the other. But just because they had done it before, it didn't make watching the other put their body on the line any easier. But still, Percy couldn't let Annabeth jump on Thorn's back.

"Quit bickering lovebirds," Thalia interrupted. "If we're gonna do something, let fucking make it happen."

Annabeth gave Percy a pleading look. He wanted to accept it; he knew that her plan was reasonable and better than any head on alternative that he might have come up with, but he knew the danger. Annabeth likely had an idea of the danger, but Percy _knew _the danger. But looking into her stormy grey eyes, he couldn't just say no.

"Fine, but the second anything changes, get out of there. I don't want him taking you down with him."

He meant those words both figuratively and literally.

With his consent, she smiled in affirmation and began to relay her ideas to Grover and Thalia, though without spoiling their action to Thorn.

"Grover, start with a C# and then go wild. Thalia, when you see it, light him up."

"And me?" he asked.

"Well, I know you hate monsters with lion faces…"

"Oh yeah. Revenge would be nice."

They broke apart and went to their new designated tasks. Grover kept his distance from the manticore and began to break out in a frantic tune. Apart from being extremely grating on the ears, the nature magic from the song started to make vines break through the snowy ground, wrapping themselves tightly around Thorn's front legs. The monster wrestled with the vines, breaking through several, but was quickly wrapped up again by additional vines.

As this went on, Percy began to charge Thorn at an angle, attacking the monster's right side with his sword hung low in his right hand his shield prepared in his left hand. As he closed the gap with the monster, Percy eyed Thorn's tail warily.

He took another step with his right foot and noticed a slight twitch in the tail. As soon as his right foot planted down onto the snow, he tensed his leg and jumped to the left. A volley of thorns embedded themselves in the ground where he would have stepped while Percy regained his balance on his left foot and began moving forward again, completing a Eurostep motion. He knew playing basketball at school dances would pay off.

While Percy neared the manticore, Thalia had taken a few steps back to survey the situation. Annabeth was still drifting warily within Thorn's vision, trying to not draw attention or suspicion so that she could make her move at the proper time. Grover stood defensively in front of the di Angelo siblings, blowing on his reed pipes with a look of intense concentration, but Thalia could tell he was nearing his limit. The vines that wrapped the manticore's legs had begun to decrease and numbers, and if the spell ran out at the wrong time, Thorn would have free access to pummel Percy.

To add to that, Thorn's tail was still armed and ready, with a second volley being launched at the son of Poseidon, who ducked into a quick sideways somersault before quickly jumping back to his feet. Thalia glanced at the tail as it waved in the air behind the monster, and a lightbulb went off in her mind. This was the opening.

"Grover, take a break for a moment and catch your breath!" she ordered. His vines, while extremely helpful, would only act against her in this case. After Grover acknowledged her order, she relaxed her shield stance and pointed her spear skyward as she began to concentrate on the air around her. A spark ran through her body and up to her spear and she let out a thunderous roar while unleashing the pent-up potential that ran through her blood.

The dark sky lit up in a flash and the clouds overhead opened up as a streak of lightning came down. In a matter of moments, the high voltage bolt struck the manticore's tail, and the current ran through the monster's body.

The lightning hurt the monster. It was clear as its tail flailed around and it kneeled forward, losing its balance on its legs, that her attack had been successful. But it wasn't going to go down too easily.

Luckily, her attack had disabled the manticore for just enough time for Annabeth's plan to unfold. Percy met the monster head on, rolling to the right when the monster attempted to weakly pounce before bringing his sword into an upward slice that just grazed its face.

He brought his shield up defensively to deflect Thorn's attempt to bite him before slicing his sword diagonally down, this time making a gash, which ran from the monsters left eye, across its snout, and over the right side of its mouth.

Unfortunately, the manticore's dazed state didn't last. Finally managing to regain his balance, Thorn batted Percy to the side with his right paw, and the son of Poseidon was launched into a tumbling heap. The manticore flicked its tail experimentally, trying to regain feeling in the now numb appendage. As it flicked, a few thorns were shot out wildly, striking the ground in the clearing with an apparent lack of aim.

Still, those things were dangerous. Previously, one had only lightly punctured Percy's calf and he had been knocked out completely. And at the moment, Percy was lying in a pained heap just a short way from the manticore, his sword and shield in the snow around him after he lost his grip during his tumble. Thalia recognized the danger and ran over to shield her friends fallen form, but as she ran across the clearing, the sound of a loud propeller was heard.

From beneath the cliff rose a vehicle, which Thalia subconsciously recognized as a Black Hawk helicopter — being the daughter of the Lord of the Sky had some strange side effects. The military chopper hovered above the cliffside for a moment, turning until its side faced in the direction of the battle. The side door opened up, revealing a small group of people, dressed in dark black combat clothes, with balaclavas covering their faces.

Thorn glanced in their direction for a moment and sneered in apparent disgust. "Late, as usual. Mortals truly are good for nothing at all." He turned to face the men in the chopper and raised his voice to a shout so that they could hear him, "Well, get on with it. Leave the two small ones in the back unharmed. The others may be maimed but avoid killing."

At his orders, one of the men, who Thalia could only assume were mortal mercenaries, took position at a mounted machine gun. Thalia prepared herself for a spray of bullets by raising her shield but was surprised when the shells fell harmlessly a few feet in front of her, as if their momentum had been halted entirely.

The daughter of Zeus peeked from behind her shield and saw what had protected her. A wall of snow had formed a small dune in front of her. The small hill of snow was tightly packed and stretched a few feet, allowing for the bullets to lose their velocity and exit the other side safely. She moved her gaze to the demigod she had been running to protect just a few seconds ago and saw him standing on wobbly feet with one arm stretched out towards her.

The son of Poseidon was concentrating deeply. When he had summoned waves in the past, the power had come to him instinctively, drawing upon the pure water in his surroundings and bending it to his will, but the snow had been much more stubborn. Rather than flowing through his blood like when he manipulated liquids, he felt the energy clot up in several parts of his body, resisting the transmission of energy through his limbs and out of his body.

It took an extra oomph to break through the resistance and explode outward into the sudden fan of snow which had plowed across the clearing while gathering more snow from the ground in order to coalesce into a protective hill in front of Thalia. With an extra push, Percy launched a hail of snow at Thorn, blinding the monster as he grabbed his sword and shield and ran to join Thalia's defensive position.

The pattering noise coming from the helicopter told Percy that the mortals had begun firing again, this time in his direction. He kept the chopper in his peripheral vision while sprinting to his snowy dune, entering a baseball slide as he reached the cover.

Now that he was under a small amount of protection, Percy took stock of the situation. Grover was standing in front of the di Angelo siblings, who he had ushered to take cover behind a tree at the edge of the forest. Thorn was covering a bleeding face with one paw, and the mercenaries still had their machine gun aimed at the two children of the Big Three. And Annabeth…

Where was Annabeth?

A howl of pain rang out from Thorn as he jerked his head upward. He thrashed lightly and Percy noticed a hint of golden on top of his back. Just like in his vision, Annabeth had found herself riding the manticore like an out of control stallion.

It was all happening as he had seen it. Which meant that any second now…

"Annabeth! Get out of there!" he screamed.

It was too late. Right after he had yelled, a whistle rang through the air as a barrage of arrows contacted Thorn's wailing form. A hunting horn rang from the woods as Thorn's expression grew frightened.

"No! It cannot be —"

His indignant cry was cut off as another arrow pierced him, this time just inches from Annabeth in his shoulder. He flicked his tail to unleash spikes into the forest, but just as quickly as he had launched them, a return fire of silvery arrows darted from the tree line, intercepting and slicing the thorns in half in midair before falling harmlessly on the ground.

A group of girls came out of the woods, each armed with a bow aimed at the manticore, and each dressed in silvery ski parkas and jeans. They numbered around twenty members, all seemingly teenagers ranging from the youngest at around twelve and the oldest at around eighteen.

From behind Percy, Thalia let out a curse, "Fucking wonderful. The Hunters."

Thorn cried out in rage and frustration, "This is not fair! You may not directly interfere! You are breaking the Ancient Laws!"

A girl stepped forward with a mixture of grace and confidence. She was maybe fifteen, with auburn hair in a woven ponytail and vivid, pale but blemish free skin, and silvery yellow eyes, like the moon. Percy's breath caught in his throat, entranced by her striking beauty, yet frozen by her dangerous gaze which was locked on the angry monster.

"The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast," she declared dismissively before turning to a girl who stood at her side, "Zoe, dispose of this filth."

The second girl, Zoe was slightly taller than the first, with caramel colored skin and an elegant silver circlet braided into long black hair. She stood with the similar confident grace and beauty of the first, like a Persian princess.

"It shall be done, my lady. Hunters, fire upon the swine," Zoe spoke with a heavy Greek accent.

"NO!" Percy yelled in fright as the group of girls let loose their notched arrows, unleashing a hail of silvery death on the manticore. He sprinted around his snow dune toward the monster, unsure of what he would do, but knowing that he had to do something to save Annabeth.

The manticore jerked backward as he moved to avoid the arrows, while Annabeth struggled to maintain her hold on the monster's lion mane. Thorn was now backed up all the way against the cliff, perched barely on the snowy ground. More arrows pierced the sky, and with nowhere to retreat, met their mark as they punctured the monster.

Thorn roared in pain and stumbled on his hind legs. His rear left leg stepped to gain traction but was met with air. The lopsided weight of his tail pulled his rear downward, sliding off the rocky cliff as his front legs scratched to prevent his fall. However, he was unable to resist the force of gravity, and he was pulled downward into the ocean below, all the while Annabeth remained on his back.

Percy reached the cliff just in time to be met with absolute darkness. The dark night sky created a dark void beneath him, and if he could not sense the waves of the ocean below, he would think the cliff extended down as far as Tartarus.

He made up his mind and took a few steps back. As he prepared to sprint forward, a spray of gunfire sounded and lit up the ground in front of the girls, the helicopter seemingly unphased by Thorn's descent from the cliff.

The auburn-haired girl stood calmly while the others scrambled behind the trees for safety. She briefly glanced at the helicopter and closed her eyes before turning away.

"Mortals," she raised one hand and waved nonchalantly, "are not allowed to witness my hunt."

The helicopter exploded in a flurry of black wings as a flock of ravens dispersed from what had previously been black metal and scattered into the dark sky.

Percy returned to his task and began to run forward, ready to dive off of the cliff, but before he reached the edge, he was knocked to the ground as one of the girls tackled him and another pinned his arms to the ground.

"Let go of me! I have to save her!"

The girl with auburn hair walked to his side and looked down with a hint of sorrow in her beautiful silvery eyes, "I'm sorry, but your friend is beyond your help, and you are in no condition to be throwing yourself off cliffs."

"This is your fault!" he screamed in anger, though within his brain he knew that the words were hollow and untrue. "Who do you think you are?"

The dark-haired girl, Zoe, stepped forward as if to slap him, but the first caught her arm and shook her head, "No Zoe, there is no disrespect. He is simply distraught and does not understand."

Percy tried to glare at the girl above him but found his anger wavering as his sense returned to his mind. Meanwhile, she simply crouched down to his level and stared at him. Eyes as bright as the winter moon and as cold as the frigid snow gazed into the chaotic waves of his own sea green.

"Greetings, Perseus Jackson. I am Artemis, Goddess of the Moon and Hunt."

* * *

**AN – Thank you for reading! Well, I did say that I would be terrible at updating this story. And what do you know, I'm even more of an asshole than I expected. I'm sorry that it took me so long to write this, but look on the bright side, for the most part, you probably completely forgot this story existed (or never even read it before).**

**This chapter wrapped up the first Thorn confrontation and the introduction of the Hunters, just as it did in the original Titan's Curse. I hope you enjoyed my variation of their fight. I always thought that Artemis's reveal in the original story was one of the best out of any of the gods. She was just so confident and casual while waving a bunch of mortals into oblivion as birds and obliterating Thorn with words.**

**WARNING… AGAIN – I will **_**still **_**likely be terrible at keeping this story updated. But, to cheer you up (if that makes you sad), this chapter took me only four months to write. That's one-sixth of the time of the first chapter! If I keep up this pace, I'll have the next chapter out in 3-4 weeks and the chapter after that in under one week and the chapter after that… well never mind. But hey, maybe I can get some more done. My semester is nearly over and I don't have any work lined up over the summer (yay quarantine :) so outside of wasting hours on FF7R whenever my new PS4 ships, I've got nothing to do but read fanfics and write substantially shittier fanfics.**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Percy had met several gods before.

His first encounter was with Dionysus, aka Mr. D, the moody camp counselor who was constantly suffering from alcohol withdrawal thanks to his father's punishment on him for infidelity — yes, _Zeus_ was punishing _him_ for infidelity. Well not the infidelity itself, rather the manner with which he acted towards the wood nymph. Still, a little ironic all things considered.

Since his emergence in the Olympian world, Percy had made several allies of gods, namely his father Poseidon and the messenger of the gods Hermes. Unfortunately, Percy had made several more enemies of the gods, including the aforementioned Dionysus and his uncle Zeus, his other uncle, Hades, and the war god Ares.

Despite his numerous run-ins with the Olympians on his prior adventures, he had yet to meet an Olympian goddess.

That is until today.

Once Artemis had introduced herself to Percy, his mind blanked. He had no idea how to react. He wasn't often one to consider his words, even in the face of beings that could vaporize him with a flick of their wrist, but this situation had left him tongue tied.

The thing about goddesses is that they are _goddesses_. And Percy, well Percy was a hormonal teenage boy. A slightly socially awkward teenage boy with a very healthy appreciation for the female form.

"Um, okay…"

His cheeks burned red, either in embarrassment at his fumbled response or shyness from being approached by someone who, by all definitions, was a perfect ten out of ten.

The goddess simply stood up from her crouched position and gave a small sorrowful smile before talking to Zoe, "Begin setting up camp. I imagine we will have a few things to discuss with these children."

Percy bristled at the innocuous comment. Even though it was accurate that compared to the goddess, he was nothing but a little kid, it felt strange being labeled as one by a girl who was seemingly around his age. But before he could open his mouth to make a fool of himself, or worse, an enemy of yet another Olympian, Grover came running over in excitement and knelt in the snow.

"Thank you so much, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… just wow!"

"Get up goat boy!" Thalia said angrily and bopped Grover lightly on the head, "We have bigger things to worry about. Annabeth's gone."

Artemis acknowledge Thalia's worry with a nod, "Indeed. Your friend has disappeared, along with the manticore," she turned her eyes to Percy, who was now unpinned by the Hunters and rising to his feet, "Even if young Perseus were to explore the depths of the ocean below, he would find no trace of her."

Percy felt his heart drop at her words, "She's… gone?"

"Transported elsewhere, likely by the intervention of Kronos or another Titan. Since they took her as well, rather than simply rescuing the monster, they likely intended to make her a prisoner or hostage,"

Percy fell to his knees in anguish. She was gone. A hostage of the Titan Lord of Time. He knew it would happen and did nothing to prevent it.

Artemis, however, didn't know of his vision and assumed he was simply fearful for her life — which he was — and tried to offer comfort, "Fear not, son of Poseidon. Annabeth is a strong and wise maiden. She will not bend to the whims of our enemy."

"Hold on!" Bianca interjected and looked at everyone with a worried and confused expression, "I want an explanation! You said we were the children of Greek gods. She says she _is _a Greek god. What is going on?"

Artemis looked to the young girl and answered, "My dear, we should first begin with the question 'who are you?' Who are your parents?"

"Our parents are dead," Bianca replied nervously, "We're orphans, and a bank trust pays for our school."

"You aren't orphans, Bianca." Thalia explained, "One of them was a Greek god. So, you never knew either of your parents?"

"N-no… I can't… I can't remember anything from my childhood."

Artemis frowned at her words, while Thalia cursed softly, "Damn, that makes things harder. We'll just have to get you two to camp where you'll be safe and maybe once you're their you'll be claimed."

"Claimed?" Nico asked.

Percy decided to offer his input as the only one present who had been officially claimed, "Your godly parent will show a symbol of sorts at some point to declare his or her parentage. Usually it happens after you do something to get their attention. Sometimes, it doesn't happen at all…" he trailed off bitterly.

"For demigods, life is dangerous," Thalia explained, "Monster, like Thorn, can smell your godly blood. And when you become aware of your heritage, your smell only increases. That's why we need to take you to Camp Half-Blood. It's the only safe place for people like us."

Bianca looked hesitant and Zoe cut in, "There is another option."

"_No_, there isn't," Thalia growled. Percy was lost, confused as to what the two girls were seemingly feuding about.

"I believe that is enough for now," Artemis cut in, "It is late and frightfully chilly. My Hunters have set up camp. You may warm up at the fire if you'd like. If you are wounded, we will treat you as best we can. Rest for now. Bianca, please join me in my tent. I would like to speak with you more,"

"What about me?" Nico asked, and it was clear that he was uncomfortable with being separated from his sister.

"Grover Underwood, correct?" Artemis asked the satyr, who nodded, "I believe you could help explain our world to young Mr. di Angelo. Perhaps as a favor, to me?"

Grover quickly nodded and took Nico by his arms and started to drag him away, "Come on Nico, let me quiz you on your Mythomagic knowledge."

Artemis led a confused Bianca down the cliff to a large tent. The young girl still seemed shocked by the world she was unceremoniously thrust into. Zoe gave a sharp glare to Thalia before turning away and joining the goddess in her tent.

Once the Hunter had left, Thalia let out a groan as she kicked a rock over the cliff in frustration, "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so… so… argh!"

Percy just stood there with a slight amount of confusion. He didn't like the Hunters. Their reckless firing had led to Annabeth's capture. But it was clear that Thalia had some sort of history with them.

"Who are they?" he asked, "It sounds like you've met them before."

"Oh, I've met them. Those stuck up prudes."

"Well I don't like them either, but I'm not going to antagonize them if they have Artemis on their side."

"Oh great. Another Artemis fanboy," she grumbled.

"What, no," he stammered, "Look, Thals, we just need to get back to camp so that we can get a quest to save Annabeth. And right now, as much as I hate it, the Hunters are our best option."

She stood still, looking at her feet, and Percy saw something navy blue in the snow. Annabeth's Yankees baseball cap. Percy thought he saw a tear run down Thalia's face.

After a moment, she turned to him and nodded reluctantly, "Fine," she started to walk away into the woods, "I need to go blow something up."

After a few steps, she glanced back, "Perce," she said with an uncharacteristically soft tone, "Thanks for protecting me."

Percy could only nod, "You'd have done the same."

It seemed to be the right answer, as the daughter of Zeus perked up slightly and continued her trek into the forest. Percy knelt and picked up the dark blue hat, brushing off a bit of snow and revealing its trampled form. He attached the hat to a spot on his belt before turning to find some medic help for his leg with renewed determination.

'Nothing will stop me,' he thought, 'I _will_ save her.'

* * *

Percy couldn't sleep.

It wasn't just because of the light sting he still felt in his leg from the ointment he had been given by a huntress.

His thoughts were running wild. Every moment of the battle with Thorn replayed in his head. It was a skill he hadn't given much thought to. Percy was a terrible student and an awful sponge when it came to book smarts and memorizing random trivia. But one thing he was exceptional at was soaking up information about an opponent to adapt to and use their battle style against them.

He had first displayed this skill in his first sword fighting class, where after only a single demonstration by his instructor, Luke, he had been able to seamlessly perform a technique that several veteran children of Ares often struggled with.

He had a knack for fighting. And while he didn't have a great strategic mind similar to the likes of Annabeth or her siblings, he was a master of improvising and criticizing.

Improvising kept him alive.

Criticizing kept him thinking.

When talking about masters of their craft or the greatest athletes of all time, one thing is common between every person: they are their biggest critic.

Percy wasn't a master sword fighter or monster hunter. He was skilled, but not a master. But he had that drive to improve. That drive to learn from his mistakes. That drive to take the blame of his failures and never let them happen again.

Or at least he liked to think he did.

To add to that desire for improvement, Percy wasn't a stranger to failure. On top of his years of experience in failing classes, he had spent the past two years getting beaten up and failing time after time.

He failed to protect his mother when he first entered Camp Half-Blood, and she had been taken as a hostage.

He failed to defeat the Chimera and was forced to flee by plummeting hundreds of yards from the top of the St. Louis Arch to the Mississippi River below.

He failed to defeat Luke when confronted by the wayward demigod in Miami.

But he wasn't prepared for the devastation that had come from his failure to save Annabeth.

The battle replayed in his mind for the fifteenth time in the past half hour. He was sitting on the edge of the cliff, his legs dangling in the open air, with his back on the snowy ground and eyes fixated on the clear, starry sky.

He had spent a small amount of time concentrating on training his body to unconsciously repel the moisture of the snow, like he did with water, and had succeeded, allowing for the snow to act like a comfortable pillow. The air was also brisk and comfortable, rather than bitingly chilly, likely due to the intervention of a certain goddess.

All in all, his exhausted body was in a perfect position to fall into a deep sleep.

But he couldn't.

His mind ran through his assault on the manticore for a sixteenth time. He visualized his downward slice and recognized the motion of the paw which had been used to bat him aside. If he had seen it in time, there was ample opportunity to avoid it and strike the beast again. But he was too slow.

He watched as he controlled the snow to protect Thalia, cursing internally that he was inexperienced in the technique and hadn't been using it throughout the entire fight.

He saw the manticore slip down the cliffside as he ran to try to intercept. All of the signs from his vision were there, but he hadn't reacted in time.

He couldn't sleep. There's no way he could.

A crunch of snow rang behind him, but he didn't move from his position.

"Boy, Artemis requests your audience."

It was the Persian princess, Zoe. He didn't move.

"Boy!"

Silence.

More crunches of snow, and Percy saw the girl enter his vision followed by a sharp jab of pain in his abdomen.

"Get up boy, or I shall run you through with my blade."

He grunted in acceptance before slowly crawling up to his feet. He trailed the huntress as she led him to the large tent that housed her matron goddess.

When he entered the tent, he was almost overwhelmed by the warmth that spread over him. He stepped inside and felt as though his earlier frustrations had vanished.

Sitting cross-legged in front of a small brazier were three girls, which became four once Zoe sat down beside Artemis. Bianca was still present, though she seemed to be less unsure as when she had entered.

The final girl was one who Percy didn't know, yet she seemed familiar. She was very young, likely even younger than Nico, but Percy could easily sense the retrained power she held and concluded that she was a goddess. She had light brown hair styled into ringlets which framed her face, which was lightly freckled and wore a comfortable smile.

"Come Perseus," Artemis addressed him, "Let us discuss your encounter with the manticore."

Percy nodded and mutely sat down between Bianca and the unknown goddess. He felt out of place and awkward, like the girls had been talking about him behind his back.

Artemis began the conversation, "Bianca informed me about some of the manticore's words. I was curious if anything stood out to you,"

Percy thought back to when he had joined the fight, "Erm… not really. I was passed out at the start of the fight and once I was on my feet, the only thing Thorn talked about was how much he wanted to kill us and later you."

"And during your confrontation within the castle?"

"Well he insulted us. He was really smug at having 'caught' four demigods," he said, emphasizing his disagreement with the monster's claims. "Thalia said something about how it didn't make sense. He wouldn't pose as a teacher for half a year just for two unguarded demigods. He was purposefully waiting for us."

"For you?" Artemis asked

Percy paused. He thought back to the conversation and remembered the pain from the manticore's spike. "I think… he was sent by… _him_… because of the prophecy. Thorn, or well, _Mr. K_, wanted one of us since we fit the mold of the prophecy. He probably wanted to get to us to try to control it. To try to manipulate us to his side."

Artemis nodded, agreeing with his assessment of the situation, "That leads us to another question, then. Why would he be so sure that you two would come to rescue Ms. Di Angelo here and her brother."

Bianca shifted slightly, still uneasy at being the center of attention.

Percy gave one idea, "Maybe he was just trailing Grover. Grover was the satyr who guided both me and Thalia into camp. Luke knows that Grover is my best friend. I'd do anything to save him."

Artemis considered the explanation for a moment, but Bianca cut in, "Um, it can't be that. Thorn was at Westover Academy for as long as I can remember. When we were enrolled into the academy, he was Vice Principal. But I remember Grover being enrolled around a month into the semester."

Zoe questioned the younger girl, "You are sure of this? Monsters can often be adept at manipulating the minds of mortals and sometimes even demigods."

The unspoken goddess finally interjected, "While that may be, my dear, I believe that there is another explanation." The goddesses voice was soft and warm, almost motherly despite her young form, "I sense a deep power within Bianca. A familiar power. Niece, do you recognize it?"

Artemis looked toward the girl then shifted her gaze to Bianca. Meanwhile, Percy was wracking his mind for the goddess' name.

Artemis' aunt.

That could be a number of people.

He ruled out any siblings of Leto, as a Titaness was unlikely to be just running around free. That left Zeus' siblings.

Hera was both Zeus' sister and wife, but she's infamous for her hatred towards the offspring who resulted from the Big Z's flings.

Demeter, the Goddess of the Harvest was another one of Zeus' sisters. Percy had never met the goddess, but when he looked at the girl beside him, it didn't scream farming or gardening.

That left one more daughter of Kronos and Rhea, Hestia. The Goddess of the Hearth.

Percy looked at the goddess and briefly caught her eyes. He was immediately drawn into a bright, flickering flame. However, it wasn't wild and chaotic like Ares. It was warm. Like the fire in front of him.

His thoughts stopped when he heard Artemis gasp in shock.

"My Lady?" Zoe asked in worry.

Artemis didn't answer, instead just looking at the other goddess, whom Percy had decided must be Hestia.

Bianca seemed fed up with the silent conversation about her, "Okay, what is going on here? What power?"

The auburn-haired goddess seemed hesitant to speak, but Hestia addressed the entire room.

"I must ask that what we discuss is not revealed to anyone outside of this room," she stated with a calm yet stern tone.

Artemis seemed reluctant, but a calm stare from Hestia made her nod in confirmation. Zoe followed her guidance soon after.

Percy accepted the terms, unsure of what could be revealed that would require such secrecy.

Bianca, though, vocally dissented, "What? If you know something about my parents, I have to tell Nico!"

"I am sorry, but your younger brother must stay unaware, at least temporarily. He is too young and immature to keep this a secret right now," Hestia argued.

Bianca struggled internally. She wanted to learn more about her parents. But she couldn't keep a secret like this from Nico.

"I don't… Do you really think I should… Would I… wouldn't it be selfish to not tell him?"

Hestia reached across the fire to place a calming hand on Bianca's own trembling one, "It is okay to be selfish every once in a while. You are your own person, with your own goals," the goddess advised, "You cannot become a better sister by constantly holding yourself back."

The words washed over Bianca, and Percy could visibly see as an invisible weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Bianca thought about Hestia's words for a moment, before closing her eyes and nodding, "I think I have made my decision."

Despite not verbally acknowledging that she wouldn't inform Nico of their parentage, the goddesses and Zoe understood her implied meaning.

"Bianca di Angelo, you are the daughter of the Lord of the Dead, Hades."

It was like a wave had crashed down on Percy as he took the words in. He looked at Bianca with wide eyes, tracing her form for any hint of his most hated uncle. He trailed from her silky black hair down to her piercing black eyes. They were a deep abyss, rich with both hope and a sad pain, and Percy struggled to look away as his mind flashed back to his first quest.

He recalled confronting Hades and looking upon the ethereal form of the banished god.

Hades had been the first god to strike Percy as godly. The first whose power had overtly overflowed in his appearance, who seemed above mortals and demigods alike. His eyes were hauntingly fierce, holding a healthy dose of both genius and madness.

Looking at the young demigod before him, he found similar traces of that power.

She really was a child of Hades.

Artemis appeared to nod in confirmation, as though her suspicions had been validated. Zoe seemed to be surprised by the information, but soon returned to a more neutral expression.

Bianca, though…

"What! Hades? But he's… he's evil!"

Hestia spoke to soothe her worries, "My brother is not evil. No more evil than my other siblings rather. He holds a great deal of pain within him, and copes with this pain by holding a grudge against Olympus. But despite this, he is not evil."

Percy wanted to argue with that assessment. The god had kidnapped his mother and held her hostage as a bargaining chip in the face of potential war. He had tried to kill him countless times and had succeeded in killing Thalia.

Hestia noticed Percy's discomfort at her defense of Hades and decided to continue, "Hades has occasionally allowed his grudges to dominate his actions. He has made indefensible mistakes, and he will make more mistakes in the future. But he is not evil. He is family."

That didn't soothe Percy much. Technically, Kronos was family too.

However, the words did alleviate some of Bianca's worries.

"So, I won't be hated just because of my father?"

At this question, Artemis' lips pursed into a frown, and Hestia seemed torn.

"Unfortunately, niece, you will still face persecution if this is revealed, for more than just Hades' reputation," Hestia explained.

"Why?" Bianca asked.

"At the end of World War II, which was a battle waged against the efforts of a rather infamous child of Hades, a pact was made between the Big Three Gods of Olympus. These Big Three are my three brothers, Zeus, the Lord of the Skies and King of Olympus, Poseidon, the Lord of the Seas and King of Atlantis, and Hades, the Lord of the Dead and King of the Underworld," Hestia spoke, as images were shown in the fire accompanying her words.

The goddess continued, "After the war, an oracle foretold of a Great Prophecy, through which a demigod child of one of these eldest gods would either bring destruction or salvation to Olympus. In an effort to combat the prophecy and prevent similar devastation to the mortal world, the brothers agreed to stop siring demigod children through relationships with mortals.

"However, Fate cannot be stopped, even by immortals. Several years ago, it was revealed that Zeus had sired a demigod child, a girl by the name of Thalia."

"She's the one with the short hair, right?" Bianca asked.

Percy answered the question with a nod before Hestia resumed her story, "When Hades learned of Zeus' broken oath, he sent the force of several monsters after the child. The daughter of Zeus had been traveling with two other demigods as well as a satyr guide. And in order to save her companions, she sacrificed herself to fend off the monster horde. In her dying breath, Zeus took pity on her daughter and used her remaining lifeforce to transform the girl into a tree, which would act as a protective barrier for Camp Half-Blood."

"But she couldn't have died. She's alive right now!"

"Her body was recovered thanks to the Golden Fleece," Percy explained, "My friend, Clarisse, went on a quest to the Sea of Monsters when Thalia's tree was poisoned to find the fleece and she was successful."

The brief explanation placated the girl's confusion and the story began again, "Years later, the council became aware of a son of Poseidon who had been claimed at Camp Half-Blood. That child was young Perseus, here.

"This event coincided with a troubling situation where Zeus' symbol of power, the Master Bolt was stolen. As Perseus here would be the prime suspect in the event of his discovery, Poseidon claimed the demigod to allow him to prove himself through a quest to retrieve the Master Bolt. On the quest, Perseus discovered that Hades' symbol of power, the Helm of Darkness, had also been stolen.

"Ultimately, he was able to succeed in recovering both stolen items, and later discovered the culprit, a child of Hermes who had defected to the forces of the former Titan Lord."

Being acknowledged for his actions was strange, Percy thought. He knew his actions were pivotal in the prevention of an Olympian war, but to have a goddess speak of you as though you were an important figure in history made him feel slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't used to this praise. Not from anyone other than his mom.

Hestia wrapped up her quick history lesson by addressing Bianca directly, "And now, just a year and a half later, we find you and your brother. Both children of Hades. However, while Poseidon and Zeus sit upon the Olympian Council and may offer their voice in the actions of our family, Hades has been banished to the Underworld. Your father's voice has been silenced, outside of the two times he is allowed to visit Olympus during the Summer and Winter solstices.

"Because of this, you and your brother are in danger. While Poseidon tends to be rather even tempered and more reactive than proactive, Zeus is quick to strike. If he sees either of you as a potential threat to Olympus due to the words of the Great Prophecy, he would be remorseless in his elimination of the threat.

"To add to this, as potential candidates for the Great Prophecy, you would be a target of our enemy, the Titan Lord's army. It seems they have already developed suspicions of your identity if the manticore's presence is anything to go by," the goddess explained.

Hestia's words, though they were delivered with as much tact and comfort as possible, left the daughter of Hades speechless with fear. Percy felt awful sitting next to the young girl. While he was _mostly_ safe from Zeus because of his father's voice on the Olympian Council and the threat of war Poseidon held over his brother, Bianca's dad had no such voice, and any war declared by Hades would be without Olympian allies.

Percy had been marked for death.

Bianca was just a dead girl walking.

"I will not allow it," Artemis spoke with a firm voice, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the tent, "No maiden shall be struck down for no fault of her own if I can help it."

Zoe nodded at the goddess' words, "This is but another reason that thou should enlist with the Hunters."

Percy's eyes widened. They wanted to recruit Bianca? "Wait, wait, what? The Hunters? Shouldn't Bianca be at camp for her and Nico's safety?"

Artemis shook her head, "For young maidens, there is another option. The Hunt is a safe outlet for girls who wish to escape the perils of the patriarchal society and mature into independent and powerful warriors."

Percy considered her explanation. It seemed like a good place for girls who had been damaged by society, but it seemed extremely exclusive. After all, if it was just for girls, what would happen to Nico? He asked this to the goddess.

"It is true that Nico would not be allowed in the Hunt. In fact, it is very rare that boys are allowed within our camp at all. The last one…" the goddess looked at Zoe. "Which one was it?"

"That boy in Colorado," Zoe answered with a small smirk. "You turned him into a jackalope."

"Ah, yes. I enjoy making jackalopes," suddenly Percy felt very unsafe in the warm tent. "Regardless, my Hunt is not accustomed to boys, and in fact many of them joined for the simple goal to escape the male form permanently."

"Permanently? But the Hunt is all young girls? What happens when they grow up?" Percy asked.

"They don't," Artemis answered easily. "One of the perks of joining the Hunt is immortality, at least as long as you do not fall in battle."

Percy was stunned. Immortality. He couldn't imagine never growing up. Never graduating school. Never growing old with his loved ones. Just staying a middle-schooler for eternity.

"By swearing themselves to me, I am able to bless maidens and become their patron so long as they are never led astray."

"Led astray?" Percy questioned.

"Become smitten with boys. Lose their sense of identity in their insecurities due to ideas of love."

Percy could only softly answer with a quick, "Oh."

Zoe, meanwhile, was glaring at the son of Poseidon with unrestrained disgust, as if he had invented the idea of becoming a boy.

"So, you just go around the country recruiting half-bloods to the Hunt?" Percy asked.

"Not just half-bloods," Zoe answered with a slight edge to her voice. "Nymphs, even mortals—"

"Which are you?" Percy couldn't help but ask. It had become clear to him that Zoe was very old. She spoke with a heavy Greek accent, and her English was highly outdated. She held herself with the elegance of an experienced warrior and was clearly very close to Artemis.

Zoe's glare heated in intensity and her reply came with unrestrained hatred, "That is none of thy concern, _boy_."

Hestia interrupted the conversation, "We need to first focus on Bianca's decision. It should be her choice. If she chooses to join or not, we will need to adjust our plans for protecting her identity."

Bianca sat calmly, mulling over the options that had already been explained to her.

"Would I ever see Nico again?" Bianca asked.

"You would see him from time to time," Artemis answered. "The Hunt often has to rest at Camp Half-Blood temporarily. There is no rule in the Hunt preventing you from speaking with a boy, and your maidenhood is not lost with familial love."

Bianca seemed to brighten at the explanation. She looked at Zoe, "Is it worth it?"

The Hunter nodded, her earlier anger had completely vanished as she calmly responded, "It is. We shall offer you a new family. Free from responsibility."

Bianca eyes seemed to almost glaze over in a dreamlike happiness, "Free from responsibility…" she muttered.

Percy's hands gripped tightly in his lap, but he stayed silent and allowed the younger girl to make her decision.

"What do I have to do?"

"Say this," Zoe instructed, "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

Bianca repeated the lines, "That's it?"

Zoe nodded, "All that is left is for my Lady to accept thy pledge."

"I accept it." Artemis said.

The flames in the brazier seemed to glow brighter at the words, casting a silvery glow over the room. The glow molded together and traveled in a mist so that it covered Bianca. The mist encased Bianca for a moment, before disappearing into the girl's skin.

As Percy looked over her form, he didn't notice any change. If he hadn't seen the whole thing happen, he would have no idea that the girl had become immortal. But Bianca took a deep breath and opened her eyes, "I feel… stronger."

"You are stronger. So long as you remember your pledge, you will be our sister-in-arms," Zoe explained.

Percy's mouth went dry. He felt as if he was trespassing on an important ritual. As if his very presence was souring the moment. Plus, he had failed Nico, not that the young boy had any clue. Bianca would spend her future in the eternal _No Boys Allowed Club_ while Nico would be alone at Camp Half-Blood, either stuck as an unclaimed child in Hermes Cabin or outcast as the son of Hades.

"Do not fret, Perseus," Hestia comforted him, "Bianca has not abandoned her family for a new one. She will be a catalyst to unite both the Hunt and Camp Half-Blood, through her brother, and perhaps in the future Olympus with the Underworld."

It was an optimistic thought. Percy didn't really think such a reality was possible.

"Dawn will approach soon," Artemis said. "I must follow on the scent the manticore left. Zoe, you shall escort the Hunt along with Chiron's campers to Camp Half-Blood. I will summon a ride from my brother."

Zoe protested immediately, "But Artemis! We hate that place! And we would be a great help on your hunt."

"No, you cannot accompany me. It may be too dangerous, and we would move too slow as a group."

"But why must we go to that camp? We would be fine on our own for a short while."

"I will not risk it. Not with the Titan Lord's army growing every day. And if our suspicions are correct, _he_ has been freed from his prison."

Zoe was frustrated by this but didn't argue against the goddess.

"Go, gather the girls and introduce them to our newest sister," Artemis commanded her longtime friend. "And inform them of my upcoming departure. In the meantime, we would like a few words in private with Perseus," she said while motioning to Hestia.

Once the two Hunters had left the tent, Percy tensed due to the uncomfortable weight of the two goddess' attention.

Hestia began speaking, "Perseus—"

"Um, just Percy is fine," Percy interrupted, "You're Lady Hestia, right?"

The goddess nodded with a warm smile, confirming the demigod's suspicions before beginning again, "Percy, what will you do in the upcoming days?"

"Huh?"

"I understand that you are not one to sit still when there is a loved one in danger," Hestia explained, "So I ask, what will you do in the upcoming days?"

Percy understood the implied message from the goddess. Annabeth was gone. Likely taken prisoner. What would he do? Well, what _could_ he do? He had no idea where to look. But he needed to find her.

Before he could respond, the other goddess spoke up, "Perseus, I admit that I do not have much experience with the minds of boys. However, I have often had to comfort young maidens who have become distraught due to the loss of a loved one. I have had to guide them when they were betrayed by a friend or an authority figure. And I have had to steer them away from their darkest thoughts.

"I can see the pain in your eyes. You blame yourself and you intend on doing whatever you can for redemption."

Percy just sat mutely, unwilling to admit the truth.

"After the manticore fell off of the cliff, what did you intend on doing?" Artemis asked.

"I was going to search the ocean for any trace of Annabeth."

"You were going to jump off of the cliff into an unknown abyss below?"

"I could feel the sea below me. I knew what I was jumping into."

"So, you know of the rocks dispersed near the cliffside. You know of the relentless pounding of the waves against the cliff face?"

Percy was silent.

Hestia spoke again, "Every hero is cursed with a fatal flaw. Do you happen to know yours?"

Percy shook his head no. He remembered how Annabeth had explained her hubris to him in the Sea of Monsters. Since that moment, he hadn't put much thought into his own fatal flaw.

"If I were to aim my bow at Thalia Grace, what would you do?" Artemis asked.

Percy answered without hesitation, "I would stop you."

"Stop me? How?"

Percy paused, "Well that depends on the situation. But I imagine it would likely lead to me fighting you."

"You would fight an Olympian?"

Percy shrugged, "Wouldn't be the first time."

"And what if I were to instead aim my bow at my Lieutenant, Zoe?"

Percy thought for a moment, "I'd fight you."

"For someone you do not even know? For someone who hates you?"

"I won't let someone innocent die."

Silence pervaded the tent for a minute as the two goddesses absorbed the demigod's words.

"A fatal flaw is complex," Artemis said, breaking the silence, "Oftentimes, one may try to explain it with a single trait, but that is usually not possible. If I had made an attempt at yours just before now, I would have said your fatal flaw was an unbending loyalty to your loved ones. However, I believe it goes beyond that."

Percy considered Artemis' explanation and tried to reflect on his experience as a demigod. What defined his fatal flaw? What was the very essence of his being?

"You must discover this flaw on your own," Artemis said, "The only person who can truly understand what makes you tick is you."

"In the meantime," the Goddess of the Hearth spoke, "You must not throw your life away. A self-destructive mindset will not save the daughter of Athena."

The son of Poseidon remained unmoving, his mind absorbing everything that had been said. Artemis stood up and stretched her legs.

"You may collect your thoughts for now," she said, "I will gather you to depart with your friends and my Hunters before daybreak in around an hour."

"Wait!" Percy stopped the goddess from exiting the tent, and she looked at him curiously. "I've been having these… visions. Visions of the future."

"Prophecies?" Artemis asked.

"No, not really. They were just… like a peek ahead," he explained. "It started right before we went inside the castle. I saw us fighting a monster, but it was all hazy. Then later I saw Thorn attack me and Thalia in the hallway right before it happened. And when I was passed out, I saw the fight with the manticore again, and I saw Annabeth…" he trailed off.

"I didn't stop it!" he groaned in frustration. "I knew it would happen. But I let her do it anyway."

The two goddesses paused, "Perseus," Artemis said, "It is not your fault. Prophetic dreams are rare for demigods, but not unheard of. However, the will of the Fates cannot be altered."

"No! You don't get it." Percy said in frustration, "I've had dreams before. I saw Zeus and Poseidon fighting over the Bolt before I even knew this world existed. But these weren't dreams. Two of them were in the middle of a conversation, like they never happened."

Artemis pursed her lips as she thought, "That has occurred before. If a person has hints of my brother's blood within them, they may experience small amounts of clairvoyance. Perhaps someone in your mother's ancestry was a child of Apollo."

"But it wasn't like a prophecy. I saw myself die in the castle! I saw a thorn go right through my heart! So, I moved and dodged it. I know prophecies can't be avoided or changed. But I changed the future I saw! I saved my own life, but I didn't save Annabeth's!"

The tent was silent once again. Both goddesses seemed stunned by the revelation.

Finally, Hestia offered her opinion, "The Strings of Fate are often spoken of as inflexible. Though the Moirai are tasked with weaving an individual's thread, they are not responsible for the events of a person's life. It is true that they attempt to guide some down certain paths and towards specific outcomes. But they are not omnipotent.

"Our world was born of Chaos. It is ruled by disorder. The Fates observe Chaos and attempt to predict its will. These predictions are the prophecies spoken by our Oracles. But a world of disorder can only be estimated, not controlled.

"These premonitions you have had seem to be a manifestation of the Fates' estimations. The events that they remain uncertain of. It seems that due to this uncertainty, you have been granted a modicum of influence over the disorder."

"Then I did fail to save Annabeth," Percy said, tightening his hands into fists.

"A single person can only accomplish so much. Do not lose hope for your friend," Hestia comforted, and gripped one of Percy's hands with a soft squeeze.

Artemis placed a hand on the demigod's shoulder, "We will make sure that this failure is not permanent. I suggest you speak with my brother during your trip to Camp Half-Blood. He may be able to give you more guidance with your visions."

With that, the auburn-haired goddess exited the tent. The Goddess of the Hearth remained by the demigod's side, rubbing comforting circles on the hero's clenched hand.

Percy sat wordlessly, staring into the crackling flames of the fire.

* * *

**AN – Thank you for reading! Apologies for the lack of action in this chapter, but it was necessary. Next chapter will likely involve the trip to Camp Half-Blood and then some build up to Capture the Flag. CTF likely will have to wait until the chapter after that. So, sorry about that if you were wanting more action. But hey, at least I updated it kind of quickly.**

**A big change from cannon came in the form of the whole early introduction of Hestia and the Hades reveal. I did this mainly because it just made sense to me in my head. If you have a young child trying to make a life changing decision on whether or not to join the immortal Hunters, who better to advise the kid than Hestia. From there, it was only a hop skip and a jump to the Last Olympian recognizing the power of her younger brother, and boom. You've got a daughter of Hades in the Hunt.**

**Also, a bit more insight into Percy's visions. I tried to make it clear that Percy **_**did**_** screw up. Sure, he can only do so much, and he shouldn't try to put everything on his shoulders, but point blank, Annabeth's capture is his fault.**

**Give me your thoughts on the story if you want, and hopefully you'll be here for the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When Artemis returned to gather Percy an hour later, she noticed that the demigod had hardly moved an inch. Hestia had repositioned herself to Percy's side, still holding one of the son of Poseidon's hands in comfort.

Percy's eyes were cold. It was as though all of the emotion, positive and negative, had been drained from the boy. He held a stony gaze as he traced the flickers of the fire in front of him.

"Come Perseus. It is nearly dawn."

Percy reluctantly turned to the goddess nodded in acknowledgement. He looked towards his companion for the past hour and pulled her into a light hug, "Thank you, Lady Hestia."

The goddess seemed shocked by the action but didn't pull away. Instead, she gave a comforting smile, "You're welcome Percy. The Hearth will always burn for family in need."

Percy and Artemis then left the tent, leaving the young-looking goddess to tend to her fire. Artemis guided the demigod to the cliffside, where his friends were waiting alongside Nico, Bianca, and Zoe.

"Percy! There you are!" Grover exclaimed, "I was worried when I felt…" the satyr glanced towards the young boy beside him and decided not to divulge the dark emotions he had felt in his empathy link.

Thalia noticed Grover's hesitance and raised an eyebrow at Percy. As far as she could tell, he was holding up fairly well. His face didn't betray any sadness, and his eyes weren't puffy from tears like hers.

Percy gave Grover a smile, forming a mask to hide the conflict his mind had been through in the past hour. He doubted it would fool his longtime friend, but it would hopefully draw any suspicion Thalia or the two Hunters had away.

"It's all good, G-man. Just had to talk to Lady Artemis a bit about what Thorn said and organize our return to camp."

"But you weren't even conscious when Thorn monologued," Nico said, with a tone of confusion rather than accusation.

Percy ruffled the young boy's hair, "Yeah, but I'm not likely to electrocute the Lieutenant of the Hunt if she mouths off," he said with a smirk towards Thalia, who scoffed.

"Plus, I don't fumble my words in front of pretty girls," he teased Grover, making him blush bright red.

Grover just kicked his hooves into the snow and mumbled something about how Artemis was 'just so… into nature.'

"So, what's the plan for getting to camp, oh Fearless Leader," Thalia said sarcastically.

Artemis cut in an began to explain, "My brother, Apollo, will pick you up during his trek west on the Sun Chariot. The Hunters will travel with you to camp and take residence for the next few days."

The daughter of Zeus grumbled in annoyance, not wanting to spend any more time than necessary with the 'uptight prudes.'

Nico, on the other hand, was buzzing with excitement, "The Sun Chariot! That's so cool! When you play it in the field alongside Apollo, he gains a 1000-point boost to agility and a 500-point boost to dexterity at the cost of a turn. It's not the best option for single battles since Apollo is pretty frail, but when you use it in doubles it turns him into one of the best sweepers in the current meta!"

Grover seemed absorbed in the child of Hades ramblings. Maybe letting Nico explain Mythomagic to him wasn't such a great idea.

Percy watched Bianca while Nico continued his explanation of Apollo's stats to Grover and couldn't help to think that the girl had blossomed overnight.

Whereas before the daughter of Hades was reclusive and hid her face behind a floppy baseball cap, she now tied her hair back in a ponytail, with a few strands falling to frame her face. She had stopped slouching forward slightly, holding the more poised posture of someone with confidence.

And to top it all off, she was laughing at her younger brother's obsession. Not covering her face in embarrassment or shame. Not scolding Nico for being annoying. She just smiled and giggled.

When he had first seen Bianca become a Huntress, he had thought that it was remarkably unimpressive. But seeing how much the girl had changed with just a bit of power and the introduction of a new family, Percy couldn't help but think that Zoe knew what she was talking about when she lauded immortality.

After a few minutes, Percy looked towards the sunrise.

"He's _sooo_ lazy during the Winter," Artemis complained in a surprisingly inelegant tone.

"So how does this work, does the chariot have like a passenger seat or something?" Percy asked, still confused at how Apollo was going to carry over twenty people.

"You will see. Apollo is frustratingly annoying, but he can be helpful every millennium or so."

Percy noticed a bright speck shining out on one of the sun's rays. The speck moved, drawing nearer, and growing brighter. A few seconds later, the speck had become a glowing orb, so bright that Percy had to look away. The air grew warmer with each second, until the snow underneath began to melt.

Finally, the heating stopped, leaving the air with a comfortable springtime heat. The glow started to dim, allowing Percy to make out the outline of a sports car. He squinted his eyes and saw the car seem to shift into an ornate golden chariot before returning to its original form.

The bright light faded completely, and Percy's eyes adjusted to the light. It was a car. And not just any car. It was _his_ car. Or at least, his dream car. He looked at the car's bumper to confirm and saw the trident emblem.

Yep. A Maserati convertible.

The car was blindingly bright yellow, and the metal was so hot that steam could be seen drifting into the air.

Percy let out a whistle in admiration, "Damn. Nice car. A little too yellow for my taste. I'd probably go with something a little more blue."

Outside of the car hopped a man, seemingly around college age, in a white tank top, boardshorts, and flip-flops, "Thanks cuz. I gotta admit that your dad's Cyclopes can make a smooth ride."

Apollo's smile was, like his car, blindingly bright. He had shoulder length blonde hair, more platinum than Annabeth's golden locks. He held his hands in his pockets and leaned back onto the hood of his car with a huge grin.

"Should have guessed he'd be hot," Thalia muttered.

"He's the God of the Sun," Percy replied unconsciously.

"Not what I meant."

Artemis frowned in annoyance at her brother, "You're late. Again."

"Come off it, little sis. It was only a few minutes."

"I am not your little sister! I was born first! I helped mother birth you!"

"Sure, sure. Whatever makes you sleep at night."

"What part of Goddess of the Moon do you not get!? I am busy at night."

"Ah, semantics. Its an expression. You know, you should really read more poetry. It'll do wonders for your sense of humor."

"Don't even start spouting off your abysmal limericks."

"Don't worry about it, those are so out of fashion. It's all about haikus now. Here, let me demonstrate…"

Zoe groaned, "Prepare thyself. This shall be dreadful."

_Snow blanket on ground_

_Heat floods a passionate heart_

_Vaporization_

Artemis' mouth gaped open in shock, "What in the world was that!?"

Apollo looked confused, "What do you mean? It's a haiku. You know, 5-7-5."

"But… it didn't suck."

"Of course, it didn't suck!" Apollo said, raising his hands to strike a dramatic pose, "God of Poetry, at your service. Hold on, I've got another…"

_Sunlight overhead_

_Waking up the world at dawn_

_Apollo is the best_

And just like that, the world returned to normal. Artemis' shock flew out the window and she deadpanned, "The last line was six syllables."

"Really. Hmm… maybe _I am the best_."

"That's four."

"I got it! _I am the coolest_!"

Artemis just sighed.

"Lord Apollo, how do you expect to carry us in that vehicle," Zoe said while pointing at the Maserati.

"Ah yeah, alright head count. Artemis, you have… what was it… twenty-two members. Plus, one, two, three, four, five of Chiron's campers—"

"Actually, it is twenty-three Hunters now, and four campers," Artemis interrupted, giving a smile to Bianca.

"Oh, a new one," Apollo remarked in surprise. His eyes roamed over Bianca's form, "I see."

At that comment, Artemis kneed Apollo in the groin, making the God keel over in pain, "You will not look at my Hunters with lecherous eyes. You will not think lewd thoughts about my Hunters. And if I hear that you even attempted to touch one of them, I will castrate you myself."

Apollo weakly held his hands in front of his face in protection, as though he had experienced this sort of punishment before, "Hey, hey. Don't say it like that. I wasn't thinking anything inappropriate."

"For some reason I doubt that."

Apollo's eyebrows knit together, and he spoke in a low voice that only Artemis could hear, "Look, I know you think I'm a manwhore. And, well… that's fair. But sex isn't the only thing on my mind. Y'know, God of Prophecies and all."

Artemis expression changed at the mention of his other title, morphing into one of concern for her new huntress, "You see something in her future?"

Apollo bit back a laugh as he stood up and leaned closely to whisper in his sister's ear, "Does the Great Prophecy ring a bell. Come on, Arty, I know that you've gotta have an idea of who her father is."

"You know?"

"I can tell she's a candidate for the prophecy from a mile away. Same as the former tree, Barnacle Beard's kid, and the little shrimp over there," he said, nudging his head toward each demigod as he addressed them, "What I need to know is who else knows you've got a daughter of Lord Emo in your Hunt and a son on his way to camp?"

"Just myself, Aunt Hestia, the girl, and Poseidon's son," Apollo raised his eyebrows at Percy's inclusion, "He was present when I made her my Hunter."

"So, I'm assuming you want to keep this hush-hush?"

"She is an innocent maiden and part of my Hunt. She is of no threat to the Prophecy."

"You know as well as I do that it doesn't take much to break a vow."

"Even so, there are two children ahead of her. The chances of the burden falling to her are miniscule."

"And her younger brother?"

Artemis didn't respond. The truth was, there was nothing she could do for Nico without drawing more suspicion and danger to the boy. If she took interest in a male, even just to protect him, it would lure the eyes of every Olympian on the council.

If Nico were revealed as the son of Hades, he would simply need to fend for himself.

Apollo ended the silence with a large smile and a slap on his sister's shoulder before loudly announcing, "See, no harm no foul. Don't worry, I'll take good care of your Hunt on their journey."

Zoe gave a sharp glare, and Apollo quickly clarified, "No, not that kind of care. Just good old, normal, care. So, anyway, we were at twenty-seven for the trip, add me and that's twenty-eight, which means this baby just won't work."

He pulled out a key fob from his pocket and pointed it at the car, pressing a button that made the car chirp before glowing brightly. Everyone on the cliff averted their eyes momentarily until the light faded to reveal a bright yellow school bus.

"Okay class, single file. Load her up!" he shouted, before rubbing his chin in thought, "Hmm, guess we'll need a driver."

"Huh? Aren't you the driver?" Percy asked.

"Pshh, that's no fun. It's always nice to teach a newbie how to pilot the chariot," the god explained, "Plus, if they're good enough, I can hit them up to take over duty whenever the auto-pilot's malfunctioning."

One part of Percy thought it was a little irresponsible to leave the motion of the sun to potentially unqualified people, but he held his tongue, because the other part of him was really hoping to get a chance to drive.

Apollo looked over the group that had been waiting alongside Artemis and began weighing his options.

"Hm, too furry," he said looking at Grover.

"Too short," this time it was Nico.

"Too prissy," Zoe.

"Too inexperienced," Bianca.

His eyes landed on Percy, and he paused for longer than any of the others, but rather than saying anything, he just moved on to Thalia.

"Let's see, daughter of Zeus. Experienced under pressure. No previous DUIs… Do you have a learner's permit?"

"What?"

"How old are you?"

"Um, I don't know," it was a little sad, but since Thalia around six years as a tree, she didn't have a good idea of how old she actually was. Going by her date of birth, she was nineteen. But going by the number of years she was alive as a human, she was around thirteen. But the reality was, she had aged as a tree, just not at the normal rate.

She wasn't the young girl who had laid down her life for her friends, but she also wasn't a mature, college age woman. From what Chiron could tell, she was a little bit older than Percy and Annabeth.

"Let me see…" Apollo stared deeply into Thalia's eyes, "You are… fifteen. About to turn sixteen in two weeks."

"My birthday is in two weeks!"

"God of Prophecies," Apollo said with a tap to his forehead, "So, you're the perfect candidate for driving," he said while casually tossing his keys to his half-sister.

The entire Hunt marched onto the bus and quickly took control of the rear seats. Zoe hopped on and guided Bianca to sit with her alongside the other Hunters, leaving Nico next to Grover at the front. Percy sat diagonal from the driver's seat one row back and Thalia took up the driver/pilot's seat.

Apollo stood at the bottom of the steps, leaning out of the bus door as he talked to Artemis.

"Take care of them," Artemis said. "Please don't allow the chariot to crash."

"Oh, you worry too much. The chariot hasn't crashed in like, forty years."

Artemis just glowered unamusedly.

"The trail is growing cold. I cannot delay my hunt any longer."

"Don't go running yourself into trouble, sis," Apollo said with a hint of rare worry in his voice.

Artemis nodded before turning to walk away. After taking two steps, she turned back her brother, "Oh, by the way. You should have a chat with young Perseus sometime soon."

Apollo looked at her in shock. Why in the world would Artemis of all people care about him? But before he could ask, Artemis had disappeared into the woods.

The god stepped onto the bus and clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention, "Ahem… Welcome, everyone, to the Sun Chariot. I ask that you keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. Since we have no safety restraints, can all able-bodied passengers willing to volunteer as seat belts raise their hands."

No one's hands raised.

"Okay. Well I guess we're winging it. Ms. Grace, do you know how to start a car?"

"It can be any harder than hotwiring it."

"I suppose so."

After a second, Thalia had managed to figure out the complicated puzzle that was putting the keys in the ignition and turning the bus engine on. The roar as the engine came to life was enormous and a wave of heat flooded the inside of the vehicle in an instant.

"Ah yeah. Forgot about that. Thalia, turn on the A/C with that blue knob on the right."

"This one?"

"No that's the solar flare control."

"This one?"

"Close, but no. That's my instant coffee maker."

Finally, Thalia found the correct control for the air conditioning and turned the knob to the max setting, which cooled the bus down tremendously.

A quick mini-lesson in how accelerating increases heat, elevation alters the effective temperature of the ground below, and a point towards a bunch of measurement instruments in the top left corner of the windshield, and the daughter of Zeus was all prepared to take to the skies.

But rather than take off, she just sat in her chair, looking fiercely out the windshield while gripping the steering wheel with an iron hold.

"Um, Thals. You good?" Percy asked, "I could take over if you're not comfortable with driving."

"NO! I mean, no it's good," Thalia responded rather forcibly, and took one more deep breath before turning off the parking brake. Then, she slammed her foot on the accelerated and the bus shot off into the air, scorching the cliffside it left behind.

* * *

One panic filled hour later, the convoy arrived at Camp Half-Blood in spectacular fashion by crashing into the lake.

Percy managed to be the first one out of the bus, and after splashing into the lake, relieved himself of his nausea and set out to help the naiads stop the vehicle from drowning. Up on the lake surface, campers and satyrs swam and canoed over to help safely evacuate the Hunters and Grover. Apollo had meanwhile helped carry a shellshocked Thalia onto shore and had set her down in order to medically examine her.

"Pulse is going wild. Cold skin. Enlarged pupils. Let me see…" the god pulsed some sort of energy into his half-sister's heart with both hands, and Thalia's body jerked like it had been struck with her own lightning attacks.

Apollo was joined by Percy, who had successfully pushed the Sun Chariot ashore with campers' and naiads' help. "Lord Apollo, is she alright? What happened up there?"

"Seems she went into shock. I managed to normalize her cardiac output and implanted additional oxygen. She's out for now but will wake up soon." He waved his hands in the air, creating a stretcher to help carry the unconscious demigod. Two of the god's children, one of whom was Lee Fletcher, the Apollo cabin counselor, loaded Thalia onto the stretcher.

The god waved his hands again, making a small prescription bottle appear, "Give her one of these when she wakes. It'll purge any deformities in her blood and have her on her feet in no time."

Lee took the bottle from the god and carried her over a hill towards the Big House.

Before Percy could move to follow, a voice called out from the lakeshore, "Hey Percy, I think that we might need your help." It was Silena Beauregard, a daughter of Aphrodite and the best equestrian at camp. Even better than Percy, who had a serious advantage in the fact that he could speak to horses.

After grabbing his attention, the girl pointed at a big pile of backpacks and sleeping bags that had been drenched in water.

With a soft sigh, Percy walked over to the bags and started to methodically pick up each item, concentrate for a moment to dry it, and then toss them over to the waiting Silena. It was kind of humiliating being the go-to quick-dryer at camp, but it beat kitchen duty.

During their task, Silena started to tease Percy, "So do you always have to come into camp so dramatically?"

"Honestly, I think my whole life is just cursed to be dramatic."

"Well, I think you'll manage to cope as long as there's enough love to go along with it!" the daughter of Aphrodite sing-songed, "Speaking of which… where's Annabeth?"

There it was.

Percy knew it was coming. He'd have to explain eventually. But he just wasn't ready.

"She's… um… L-look I'll talk about it later. I need to see Chiron first."

At that, Percy managed to dry the last bag and tossed it to Silena before taking off in a sprint towards the Big House. He reached his destination in no-time flat and flung the farmhouse door open to find Dionysus alone at a table with two hands of cards lying face down in front of him.

"Where's Chiron?"

"Wonderful to see you too, Mr. Johnson."

"Cut the shit, Mr. D. Where's Chiron."

"If you'd open your eyes, you could see that he's obviously run away to avoid another spanking in pinochle."

"I said, WHERE'S—" Percy's voice had risen to a shout, but he was cut off when the wheelchair-bound figure of Chiron in his mortal disguise entered the room, "Chiron."

"Percy. It is good to see you. I have just spoken to Lee in the other room. He said something about Lord Apollo crash landing and healing Thalia who was in shock?"

"Yeah. We just got here with the Sun Chariot. But listen Chiron—"

"Pah. The _Sun Chariot_," Dionysus interrupted, "More like a wannabe party bus if you ask me."

"I didn't ask you," Percy said through gritted teeth.

"Was your mission successful?" Chiron asked innocently.

"Yes, but…"

Suddenly, Chiron seemed to notice the lack of Annabeth in the room. The girl was so often caught up in Percy's misadventures, it was practically unheard of to have the son of Poseidon in the Big House without her. "Percy, where is Annabeth?"

Percy opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. He tried several times to speak, but instead just looked like a blubbering fish.

"Haha, look. Little old sea spawn is a fish out of water without his know-it-all."

That snapped Percy out of his silence, "Oh for Zeus' sake, shut up you miserable old sot!"

Dionysus' sardonic smile twisted into a disgusted sneer. His rich, purple eyes flashed with power and anger. But before he could speak any more, Chiron intervened and attempted to put the conversation back on track, "Percy, tell me what happened."

And so, Percy talked. He started from when he first fought Thorn in the halls of the castle, continuing on into the fight on the cliff. He kept his premonitions to himself, not willing to reveal the secret to the present god and not ready to admit his failure to his favorite teacher.

When he got to the fight's conclusion, he began to hesitate, "And then, Annabeth… jumped onto the manticore. But all of a sudden the Hunters came in and—"

"The Hunters? Artemis' Hunters?" Chiron interrupted.

"Yeah. They came to camp with us. But during the fight they shot at the manticore while Annabeth was riding it. But the monster moved back to the cliff edge and was pushed off. And Annabeth… she was still on its back… I… I wasn't there in time. I tried to go save her but…" he trailed off, "And then Artemis stopped me from going after her. What if she's wrong? What if Annabeth did fall into the ocean?"

"Oh sure, as if you know better than an Olympian," Dionysus drawled out condescendingly, "Tell me boy, does your arrogance ever disappear."

"As if you're one to talk. Maybe if you had any sort of humility you wouldn't be stuck here tending to us little kiddies. You're probably happy Annabeth's gone! One less camper for you to deal with."

"Of course, it's _my_ fault. It was obviously _me_ who decided this sentence would help raise you miserable brats. 'Oh Dionysus, you would be great as camp director. You can relate so well to our children. They'll be future heroes of Olympus just like you.' Absolutely mental."

"That's my point exactly. You gods just love to go throwing your power all over the place and then don't take responsibility when it ends up having consequences! Artemis didn't have to let her Hunters fire at the manticore when it was backed into a corner! You could have just kept your tiny dick in your pants around that nymph and stayed faithful to your wife!"

Percy didn't even know what he was saying. He was just speaking without thinking. He didn't even know Dionysus had a wife, but the words came out of his mouth completely unconsciously, as if he was certain of the fact.

A massive wave of power flooded over Percy. The air grew humid and fumes of wine wafted throughout the room. Dionysus was still sitting at the table, fidgeting with his playing cards, but rather than showing a bored expression, he was laser focused on the son of Poseidon. "Do not test me child."

"Oh, my bad. I forgot that it's okay for you gods to just fuck around and leave mortals with the burden of raising their kids alone. 'But the Ancient Laws,'" he said mockingly, "'We can't interfere in their lives.' It's all bullshit!"

"Enough!" Chiron shouted firmly, "Perseus, we will discuss more of this later. Privately. Leave us for now."

Percy didn't have to be told twice. He stormed out of the Big House, slamming the door shut on his way out, like a young child throwing a tantrum.

After the argument with Mr. D, Percy was wired up on energy. He needed to vent his anger physically, so he made a beeline to the Training Arena.

He jittered with adrenaline. He had been entirely ready to go mano a mano with Dionysus. Ready to pummel the god into the ground or die trying.

He hadn't slept in around sixteen hours, when he had caught some sleep in his mom's car on the way to Westover Hall. It was sixteen very stressful, and exhausting hours. But right now, his whole body shook, almost ready to explode if he didn't unload his energy.

He found the arena occupied by a few children of Ares sparring with each other. They had been at camp slightly longer than him, he recalled, as they were all present during his 'initiation' during his first visit to camp. He even had a vague memory of slicing the pommel off of one of their helmet's during his first game of Capture the Flag.

One of the half-bloods spotted Percy entering the arena, "Well if it isn't Prissy!"

The declaration caused the three other children of Ares to turn towards him, all with slight glares. Of all of the cabins at Camp Half-Blood, Ares was the only one Percy could not get along with. From his fight with their father to his intervention and 'glory stealing' during Clarisse's quest, the cabin of warriors held a resentment for the son of Poseidon.

It also likely didn't help that he was often responsible for beating their asses during Capture the Flag.

Percy ignored the stares from the Ares kids and walked to a set of dummies on the opposite side of the arena. If he fought them right now, it likely wouldn't have a pretty ending. After drawing his sword out, he considered his options. He could wail on the dummies for a while and wear himself out, but that would do little to improve his sword play or fighting prowess. He could experiment with other weapons, but he didn't think he'd learn much without a teacher to guide him.

The light blanket of snow which covered the ground of the open-air arena gave him a third option. He could work more on his godly powers.

As the Ares kids went back to their spars, Percy closed his eyes in concentration, thinking back to when he had manipulated snow while fighting the manticore. He remembered the forcing the energy through his blood past obstructions before it exploded outward.

The explosion of power was nice, but he wanted something a bit more controlled. Control was something he struggled with. The ocean is vast and powerful, making it difficult to restrain. Instead, he would focus in on a smaller body, which allowed him to channel it to his whims.

But when he controlled snow, it was a different feeling. It was resistant to change, but once he got a hold of it, he was able to move it with little effort, like a giant boulder. What did Annabeth call it? Inter-something? No. Inertia.

Percy readied himself by getting into a normal fighting stance. His left foot was forward with his shield out while his right foot was a step backward, ready to kick off the ground when needed. He held Riptide back with his right hand and took a deep breath.

He concentrated on the pulse of his heart and found its rhythm. A bit more focus and a light push to gather his bearings.

Finally, he pushed inward. It was like he had slammed an immovable wall of pure energy within himself as he swept his sword low, lightly scraping the snowy ground. He stepped off of his right foot as he swung and twisted his body slightly to allow his foot to plant on the ground, now in front of his left one.

Meanwhile, a huge flurry of snow had amassed behind him, following the motion of his sword before being ejected in a blizzard and impacting the six dummies that stood before the demigod.

Percy didn't stop moving. Using the momentum of his step, he ducked into a somersault roll before coming up again, this time slicing his sword downward.

A second blizzard descended from above, smashing several dummies off of their stands and pounding them into the ground.

Percy stepped back, taking his original defensive stance again, and examined the damage. Three out of six dummies were lying on the ground, covered in a blanket of snow. One of the remaining standing dummies was just barely handing on, its wooden bottom fractured slightly as it slanted diagonally. The last two, which were the furthest away from Percy, showed some signs of battering, but were for the most part okay. Each fake enemy showed signs of both blunt damage and a few punctures from masses of sharp ice that had found their mark.

Good start.

But there was a lot of work left.

Half an hour later, Percy was standing with his hands on his knees, panting. Over the course of his training, he had slowly sapped his own adrenaline and anger, allowing for his mind to run clearer. He used the time alone to think back on his confrontation with Mr. D in the Big House.

He had been livid. It was as if Ares had been hiding in the room invisibly, allowing his aura to wash over and amplify the demigod's frustrations and dislike of Dionysus.

In the moment, for all Percy cared, Mr. D was a mirror image of his old stepdad, Gabe. A disgusting, egotistical drunkard addicted to gambling. One who care for nothing other than himself. One who would assault an innocent woman.

When he made this comparison in his head during training, he had managed to completely destroy one of the dummies, leaving it in a mass of splinters on the Training Arena floor.

If the miserable god didn't remind Percy so much of that old filth, Percy would probably have been thinking more clearly when talking to Chiron. He had, once again, tried placing the blame on Artemis and the Hunters despite knowing it wasn't just their fault.

As he caught his breath, he recalled the end of his argument. He had talked about Mr. D's affair and claimed he was unfaithful to his wife.

Did Dionysus even have a wife?

He just knew that the god had gone after an 'off-limits wood nymph' according to Chiron.

What made it 'off-limits'?

He wasn't sure what had happened, but he figured it would be something to worry about later. He was just too drunk with rage; it probably didn't mean anything that he had said something stupid.

A while later, Percy was brought out of his thoughts by some yelling. Across the arena floor, the group of Ares children were shouting at a lone figure in silver. It was Zoe.

Percy didn't know what was going on, but he figured he should probably break the group up, if only to save the Ares kids from being turned into jackalopes by Artemis in the future.

"Whoa guys," he announced as he walked over, "Let's just chill out for a sec. Marcus, mind explaining what's going on?" he asked one of the campers who he knew was slightly more level-headed than his brothers and sisters.

"This chick just waltzed on in here and talked shit about being able to take us all on with her hands tied behind her back. Then she mouthed off on our dad and called us all 'pig-spawn.'"

Internally, Percy laughed at Zoe's clever insult towards Ares, but on the outside, he kept a calm façade, "Zoe, was it? Why are you trying to pick a fight with these idiots?" Percy asked the aloof huntress.

"Does one need an excuse to look down upon garbage? I have no obligations to be cordial with ye campers."

"You know that will just make your time here less pleasant."

"So?"

Percy didn't answer. Instead he just looked at the girl, trying to figure out what her deal was. She was old. Like, _old_ old. And since she was part of the Hunt, she had probably been in a lot of battles. He hadn't seen her fight, but he figured she definitely could kick the Ares kids' asses.

"Well, I've gotta admit, I wouldn't be surprised if you did beat up these dunderheads," Percy said while pointing to the glowering muscleheads behind him. He leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially, "If you ask me, they kind of deserve it. Bullies get what's coming to them eventually."

He leaned back, casually and started to walk away. As he neared the exit of the arena, he waved his hands, "Just try not to break any bones!" he shouted without turning his head.

"Wait!"

The huntress' shout stopped the demigod in his tracks. He turned and looked at the girl quizzically.

"Fight me," the girl challenged.

"Huh?"

"A quick spar," she elaborated, and removed her bow and quiver from her back, "One on one."

"Why me?"

"Thou art the leader of thy peers. I am the leader of mine."

"Hold up. I'm not—"

"We will fight tomorrow night in the traditional Capture the Flag friendly between the Hunt and Camp Half-Blood. I shall use this spar to develop tactics. I suggest you do the same."

Percy paused. A Capture the Flag match against the Hunters would definitely be interesting.

And depending on the number of campers still at camp… they would definitely need some preparation.

He walked back into the arena.

"Alright, I'll play. What are the rules of the spar?"

"Blades only," she said, drawing two silver hunting knives from sheathes on her waist. They were around a foot long, wicked sharp, with a serrated edge, "We shall fight until one opponent yields, is disarmed, is knocked out of the perimeter, or is in position for a fatal blow."

Percy nodded. The good thing about having traces of immortal blood in your veins is that any nicks or bruises from spars like this could be easily healed with some ambrosia, nectar, and light rest.

He walked to the center of the chalked out sparring circle and held out his hand to the huntress to shake, "Let's start this over. Nice to meet you, I'm Percy Jackson."

The huntress eyed his hand warily before accepting it. Her grip was firm, and her hands were calloused, the result of centuries of archery, "Zoe Nightshade."

"Well," Percy said, stepping back a few feet, "May the best man win."

"Indeed," Zoe said icily, "May the best _woman_ win. Begin."

* * *

**AN – Thank you for reading! Oof, sorry about that cliffhanger. I know that I hate reading them, but they're hella fun to use when writing. Mwahaha!**

**To ****address a very good review from ****Jaybird9876****, since I think he had some great questions:**

**What will the relationship be between Artemis and Percy and Hestia and Percy? **

**Like you guessed, purely platonic. Hestia's relationship with him will be motherly, similar to how she acts in the Last Olympian, but more personal. Artemis, I haven't completely decided yet, but just know that this story won't have Pertemis, at least from Artemis. I like that pairing a lot, but this story isn't about that.**

**Like I said in the first chapter, romance isn't the focus of the story, but it will be there.**

**How much will you flesh out Percy's newfound Fatal Flaw? **

**It will definitely be an important plot point in the future.**

**Can you confirm or deny whether Percy is a legacy of Apollo?**

**Let's just wait until next chapter to address that**

**So, confession: I've never read Trials of Apollo and it's been ages since I read Blood of Olympus since I didn't like it much. This means that practically all of my Apollo characterization is going off of Titan's Curse and some fanfiction. I hope it doesn't clash with anyone's image of the character, since I had a lot of fun writing it. (Normally I wouldn't worry about altering a character's personality a bit to fit my story, but since he's the main character of another series, I figured I should at least explain why)**

**Let me know what you think! Hope you are here for the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Zoe was made a Hunter, she vowed to herself that she would never lose to a man in combat. Whether it was human, demigod, or even monster.

So far, she had been successful.

Despite facing several thousand different men in her everlasting life, she had not once stared up at the male in defeat. Sure, there had been some close calls where she had only escaped with her life thanks to her fellow Hunters, but that is simply a side effect in the life of hunting the largest and most feared beasts.

She was not always the most fierce Hunter. When she had first joined the Hunt, there had only been seven members, including Artemis and herself. The young Olympian had trained her new maidens ferociously, working to build a reputation as the premier combatants in the realm. So, Zoe fought. She sparred with her new sisters for hours on end every day. She got knocked on her ass by the older Hunters. She even got knocked on her ass by some of the newer Hunters.

Her entire life before that moment was one of opulent luxury. She lived in peace with her family in a tranquil garden. During the Titan War, her father had been the general of Kronos' forces, while she and her sisters stayed out of the battle in the Garden of Hesperides.

Later, after the war, their father was imprisoned. Forced to bear the weight of the Heavens as punishment for his atrocities towards the mortal world as a Titan Lord. But still, she and her sisters lived in peace, attending to their new pet, Ladon, who guarded the Tree of Immortality.

So, when she was handed a bow and knives by Artemis and told to fight the goddess right after joining the Hunt, she had naturally been pummeled. Sure, she had astronomical strength thanks to the blood of her father, but she was clueless in how to use it.

From that point, she put everything she had into bettering herself. Day in and day out, she worked so that she would never have to look into the eyes of someone like _him_ as a helpless fool.

Since then, she had forged herself into the perfect huntress. After Artemis' first lieutenant fell in battle during the Giant War, she had taken the mantle of Lieutenant of the Hunt. Now, she was nearly a clone of Artemis herself.

Zoe Nightshade did not defeat men.

She destroyed them.

Her current prey would be no exception.

As soon as the huntress started the fight, Percy was on the defensive. Zoe had sped across the arena floor in a blink and stepped inside Percy's guard. She swiped with one knife, which Percy diverted with his unarmed hand. He kicked out, pushing the huntress a few feet back off balance.

Zoe recovered her mobility with a backwards roll, landing and building up momentum in her bent legs. She launched herself forward, dashing behind the son of Poseidon.

Percy tried to keep up with the huntress. He twisted to face her as she made her way into his blind spot but was met with a kick to the side of his head. Not allowing himself to be caught off guard despite the blow, he brought his sword down to parry an attack Zoe had made with one knife after spinning in a full circle from her roundhouse kick.

Taking advantage of the small opening he had formed, Percy grabbed the wrist holding Zoe's other knife and twisted, making the blade clatter to the floor. He tried to spin Zoe and hold her now unarmed hand behind her back, but as soon as he turned her around, she managed to do a complete backflip over the demigod, landing behind him with the arm he had been holding now gripping his own tightly behind his back.

Percy swiped backwards with his left foot, knocking the huntress' own left side off balance. He pulled his restrained left arm out of the girl's grip making her even more unsteady so that he could rotate and stab with the sword in his right arm.

Even while falling, Zoe was agile enough to dodge his attack by contorting her body. She planted her one remaining knife into the snowy ground to help catch her fall and before Percy was able to land a kick on her prone body, she grabbed his ankle and yanked him down.

The son of Poseidon collapsed next to the huntress, who rolled sideways to avoid a weak punch before yanking her knife out of the ground and standing up. Percy copied her action, jumping to his feet and taking a new defensive stance to combat her overwhelming speed.

The two fighters warily evaluated each other until Percy stepped forward to take the offensive for the first time. Even while only holding a single small knife, Zoe was able to parry the demigods' sword as he jabbed right. Zoe swiftly sliced her knife upward, which Percy dodged with practiced ease thanks to his summers training with Annabeth.

Percy feinted a step left before moving right. Zoe bit on his fake, turning to block a strike from Percy's left and was instead bludgeoned in the face by the pommel of Riptide from the right.

Zoe backpedaled while holding her face. A few blots of blood dripped from her nose.

That was unacceptable.

Percy watched as frustration flashed through his opponent's eyes. Zoe righted herself, shaking her head to dispel the throbbing ring in her ears. She gripped her knife tightly and looked at the son of Poseidon.

He stood mostly unharmed, holding his sword casually.

She stood with a bloody nose, one knife on the ground, the other grasped firmly.

It was time to get even.

As the huntress launched herself at him, Percy responded with a charge of his own. The two fighters sprinted to the center of the arena and Percy felt as his world morphed into a grayish white.

_He was still running, though this time he was surrounded by trees. Zoe was further away from him, about a track's length away compared to the small, basketball court sized arena floor._

_He was holding something large in his hands. A flag. He could glimpse the flutter of a flag trailing Zoe as well._

_Capture the Flag._

_From the looks of it, the two of them were marching towards the creek line, which acted as the team boundary for most CTF games._

_Suddenly, he felt his body escalate into a sprint. Evidently, he had realized that he wouldn't be able to beat the huntress at his current pace. For forty yards, he sprinted until he reached the shore of the creek._

_His body was trampled to the ground. Zoe had reached the creek first, leaping across the water like a gazelle, plowing him into the ground._

_His sight faded into cloudy noise, leaving one final image of Zoe holding her flag victoriously over his body._

Just as suddenly as his premonition came, it disappeared, and he was thrust back into his duel with the huntress.

He struggled to move in time to avoid a swipe, then ducked beneath a second. He was met by a strong knee which contacted him firmly in the face as he brought his head low.

His neck snapped back.

The huntress kept up her attack. A jab to his side was parried. A hook to his gut hit. Another swipe dodged, but the follow up hit.

Blood dropped down from a small cut that had been made on Percy's obliques. He held his side while trying to overcome the girl's continued barrage.

It was increasingly clear that his window of victory was closing fast. Zoe ran behind him while he staggered in pain. He moved to turn around, swinging his elbow in the hopes of clocking her in the chin. He whiffed and was instead hit in his own chin by a vicious backhand.

Percy crumpled to the ground.

He reached his hands back to try to push himself back up but was stopped by Zoe's foot pushing down on his chest.

The huntress bent forward while maintaining the weight, not allowing him to move. She held her remaining knife to Percy's neck.

"Yield!"

"I yield."

The weight came off of Percy's chest as Zoe stepped over his head to walk over and pick up the knife she had lost early in the fight.

Percy stayed on the ground, the exhaustion from the previous night and long morning finally catching up to him. He stared at the gray clouds that formed a dreary blanket in the overcast sky.

Alongside the exhaustion, his earlier depressive funk creeped up in his subconscious. The dark thoughts in his mind had been temporarily erased thanks to the efforts of Hestia, Artemis, and even Apollo. A burning fire, a glowing moon, and a bright sun all worked to light his dim world.

But that didn't destroy the gray skies overhead.

Before he could fall deeper into his thoughts, the bleak landscape was replaced by the visage of a tanned huntress. For the first time, Percy really took in the girl's appearance.

Zoe's black bangs clung to her forehead, matted down by sweat. Her long braid fell over her left shoulder and reached down to her breasts. Her cheeks shined with sweat, dry blood, and flecks of mud. Her coffee brown eyes still held ferocity, but the barely restrained hatred from before seemed to have diminished. Her mouth was fixed in a confident smirk, reminding Percy of Thalia.

"Well Percy Jackson, it appears that the best woman has won."

"Oh, hardy-har," Percy grumbled.

"Perchance our duel tomorrow night shall be more interesting than usual; however, I suspect the result will still be in the Hunt's favor."

Percy rolled his eyes, but gave a good-natured smile, "Yeah, yeah. Keep doubting us. You won't win just cause you can kick my ass one on one."

"Correct. We shall win because we can all kick your ass one on one."

At that declaration, Zoe left, leaving Percy flat on the arena floor, his nose clogged with blood.

* * *

It was a five-minute walk from the Training Arena to the cabins, but it felt like an hour for Percy. His body trudged along the snowy ground, ignoring most of the calls for attention from his friends as he kept his head down.

He wasn't sure if the ringing in his ears was from being smacked upside the head, exhaustion, or his own chaotic mental state.

When he finally reached his empty cabin, he threw off his clothes and hopped into a shower, letting the pounding of water on his head drown out the noise in mind. As he stood beneath the torrent of the shower, his bloody nose began to clear up and his muscles ached less.

After a few minutes, he left the bathroom and immediately fell onto the one bunk that he had made his own in the vacant cabin, descending into sleep quickly.

The dreams started immediately.

His vision wasn't gray. It was dark. Almost completely black.

Annabeth was walking on the dark hillside, and Percy couldn't help but wonder if it was the Underworld. Except she wasn't dead. Artemis had told him she was transported, and from what he could make out of her in the black fog, she didn't have the wispy glow of Underworld spirits.

The whole scene was claustrophobic despite seeming to be an open-air cliff. The biggest issue was that there seemed to be no sky above. Just darkness.

As Annabeth continued up the cliff, she passed old, broken Greek columns built of black marble, like the Parthenon's emo stepbrother.

Annabeth crouched low, stealthily stalking through the obviously hostile environment. She continued investigating her surroundings, climbing over a section of broken wall, and moving to the hill's crest.

What she found there made even Percy want to gasp in shock.

Luke was on his knees in pain.

He was on a rocky ground, trying to rise, as if he had misjudged a weight while squatting. The dark fog seemed to be thicker near him, swirling around hungrily. He was in an awful state, with scratches on his already scarred face, torn clothes, and heaps of sweat.

"Annabeth!" he cried out, half in relief, and half in desperation, "Help me! Please!"

Percy knew it must be a trap, but the pain was just so genuine.

Annabeth ran forward to her former friend with tears in her eyes. She reached forward for a moment to touch the demigod, but pulled back at the last second, as if she had just touched a hot stove.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He put me here! I said no to his order, so he decided to punish me. I couldn't do it Annabeth. I told you, it's too much!"

Percy didn't know what he was talking about, but clearly Annabeth had some idea. Had the two of them talked since last summer?

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth demanded; her voice filled with hurt.

"You shouldn't! I've been terrible to you. To Thalia. But I'm going to die! I'm not strong enough! Not alone."

'Let him die!' Percy thought unconsciously for a moment. Luke had tried to kill them too many times and was nearly responsible for the destruction of their home. He didn't deserve anything from Annabeth. But did he deserve death?

The darkness above Luke trembled, and black rock began to fall from the nothingness. Annabeth rushed beside the demigod just as a crack appeared in the fog, and it looked as though the entire ceiling dropped. Annabeth caught it and held it on her shoulders somehow. It shouldn't be possible. She should have been flattened by the tons of rock.

Luke rolled free from the burden and gasped, trying to catch his breath. After a bunch of heaving, he finally managed to get out, "Thanks."

"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned in pain.

Luke finally caught his breath and wiped some of the sweat from his face. It looked like he wanted to run his fingers through his hair but was unable to due to the grime sticking it together. He unsteadily rose to his feet, before stumbling to the ground again. He pushed himself up but couldn't balance properly. Finally, he was able to reach his feet and take a few steps.

He moved near Annabeth and put a hand on her cheek, "I knew I could count on you."

Annabeth roughly jerked her head away, nearly crumbling underneath the weight, but managed to stay balanced on one knee. She spit at Luke, but he was able to move back and avoid it easily.

"Don't worry, Annabeth. Help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. I'm sure a daughter of Athena like you would understand," Luke commented casually as he started to walk down the hill.

Waving a hand goodbye, he left with a parting, "Try not to die!"

* * *

Percy bolted upright in his bed. His body was clammy. His sheets were crumpled, showing that he had been clawing at them in his sleep. The room was pitch black outside of a small glow at the back wall.

He wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed it before. A small fountain bubbled with water, lit up from the basin by some fluorescent light. His backpack was placed underneath it, having likely been returned by Silena after he had run off to the Big House.

The fountain seemed to be some gray sea rock, with a spout in the shape of a fish head ejecting a stream of water that then trickled into a pool underneath. The water was warm and created a summery mist that reminded Percy of an oceanside breeze. At the bottom of the basin of the fountain were several drachmas, and Percy realized that the fountain was a gift from Poseidon for IM'ing friends and family.

Percy looked in the shimmering salt water and said, "Thanks, Dad."

Percy wanted to call his mom more than anything, but it was late. Like, dead of the night late. Moving back to his bead, he looked at his watch, which he had taken off before he showered.

3:43

'Mom's asleep. Or at least, she better be,' Percy thought, considering if his mother's night classes kept her up working on projects late into the night like he did whenever he procrastinated.

Not wanting to bother anyone that might have been asleep, Percy decided to leave the drachmas for later. Instead, he looked through his backpack and brought out Annabeth's Yankees cap and a change of clothes.

After getting dressed, he threw on the hat and walked outside, making a beeline to the shore of the Long Island Sound.

When he reached the sand, he sat, simply enjoying the monotonous sound of the waves in the night. He felt warm, and if he closed his eyes, he might've have been able to trick himself into thinking it was spring or summer rather than winter.

"Don't run from dreams," a sudden voice pierced the tranquility of the quiet night.

"Huh?" Percy opened his eyes and looked around before finding an old disheveled man with a long beard. He sat in front of a burning trash can, looking like any other homeless person Percy had come across in New York City. His jeans were ripped near the bottom, leaving his mismatched socks on display. He had a huge, gray coat and earmuffs on. His hands were gloved, though some of the fingers were bare, and he held them above his fire.

Mortals had wandered into camp before. A pizza delivery guy here, a lost paddle boarder there. But this was obviously not a mortal.

"If it weren't for dreams," the homeless guy said, "I wouldn't know half the stuff I know about Olympus. There's some juicy gossip hiding up there. Better than any tabloid."

While Percy tried to figure out which god this was, the man cleared his throat and held one hand up dramatically.

_Dreams like a podcast_

_Downloading truth in my ears_

_They tell me cool stuff_

"Apollo?" Percy guessed, realizing only one god would appear out of nowhere and spout off bad haikus.

"Shh," the god said, holding a finger to his mouth in a quieting gesture, "I'm incognito. Call me Fred."

"Right… Fred," Percy drawled, unconvinced that the disguise would fool any higher being in charge of enforcing Ancient Laws, if such a thing existed.

"So, what ails your mind?"

Percy let out a tired sigh and walked over to join the disguised god around the barrel fire, "Like you said, dreams tell you stuff. But the stuff I just learned… isn't cool."

Apollo nodded in agreement, "See, that's the problem with forethought. Just as we often look back on our pasts with regret, we tend to dread the impending future. That dread doesn't get any better when you know what's coming."

"You can see the future?"

"Well, not exactly. Prophecies are my thing, so the visions I get tend to be vague abstractions. Anyway, when something's foggy, people try to do anything they can to clear it up. And if they try to stop something but fail, it just hits twice as hard. It's a tough break."

Percy understood the feeling. On his first quest, he had been told that a friend would betray him, but without the knowledge of who, where, when, and why, he was just left feeling anxious throughout the whole trip. It had made him wary of Grover and especially Annabeth and had even faked him out when he thought he solved the issue after Ares' betrayal.

That left him even more vulnerable when the prophecy came true during Luke's assassination attempt on him after he had returned to camp.

"But you can stop it, right?" Percy asked, "Hestia told me that Fate is more like a prediction of the most likely future. So, hypothetically, you could break a prophecy."

Apollo stroked his greasy gray beard a bit with a pensive expression, "It's hard to say. If you were to somehow avoid a prediction, what's stopping that event from merely being replaced by another. If I recall on your quest to retrieve the Master Bolt, you were told _'you would fail to save what matters most in the end_.'"

"You remember that prophecy?"

"Usually I push them out of my mind, but when Civil War is on the horizon, I try to remember. And it was that line in particular that made me keep track of the prophecy. When it came to my mind, I figured all hope was lost. That line _had_ to be in reference to the Bolt, and the possibility of your failure could have spelled the end of our Pantheon as we know it," Apollo said while miming an explosion with his hands.

"But it wasn't," Percy noted, "I had to give up my mother to Hades in order to escape the Underworld."

"Exactly," Apollo pointed at Percy, "You discovered the true thief and recognized that our Uncle only wanted revenge for the theft of his Helm. The prophecy foretold of what mattered the most to _you_, not to the world."

"But what does that have to do with breaking a prophecy?" Percy asked

"Well, what do you think would have happened if you hadn't put the pieces together?" Apollo countered, "What if you had saved your mother and submitted yourself to Hades for eternal punishment? Ares would have escaped with the Bolt and Helm and a three-way war between the Big Three would erupt. The prophecy would be complete, and the idea of you giving up your mother to stop the war would never have appeared as a possibility.

"To put it in simpler terms, maybe you've already 'broken' a prophecy, or maybe the very idea of breaking a prophecy is impossible since it could just be replaced by a new event. It's all a matter of perspective. A perspective that we don't have since we only live in one continuous reality," Apollo concluded.

Percy paused and absorbed the Sun god's words. The idea of different outcomes to prophecies was reasonable, but did they truly adapt to account for every action within the world?

"So, what about dreams?" Percy switched topics, "Those aren't prophecies."

"Right. They are avenues that Fate uses to nudge us into a certain direction. They act as windows to your life thread. Almost like you're spying on the Moirai while they weave your life."

"So, if I were to spy on them and see an event coming up that I don't like, I could interrupt their weaving before anything happens?" Percy asked, considering his avoided death the previous night.

"That's one way of looking at it," Apollo agreed, "Which leads us back to our original topic. Don't run from dreams. They'll tell you stuff. Sometimes it's cool. Sometimes it isn't. But the sensation of sticking it to the Fates never grows boring."

"Wow. Thanks Fred. I didn't peg you for the wise type."

Apollo deflected the praise quickly, "Ah, wisdom's not my thing. Leave that stuff to the old bird. I've just been exposed to the actions of the Fates long enough to piece some thoughts together."

The pair relaxed into a comfortable silence, listening instead to the melodic ocean and crackling fire. After a few minutes, Percy broke the silence to come clean to the god.

"I've seen the future before," he stated, continuing quickly after noticing the god's questioning gaze, "Outside of dreams and prophecies. It was during the mission last night."

"Like a déjà vu type thing? Don't worry about that. Our mind can get crazy sometime."

"No, not that. I mean literal premonitions of future events minutes before they happen. Future events that I can change. Has that… happened to someone before?"

Apollo sat in thought for a while, glancing at Percy every few seconds. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision once, then shook his head as if to say no. Finally, he sighed and looked at his campfire companion, "Similar things have happened before. In fact, it happens a lot. It's basically the core prerequisite of becoming an Oracle."

Percy's eyes widened, "You mean like the mummy in the Big House?"

"Yes, that is the most recent Oracle. Every few decades the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi is transferred to a new host. But the spirit is a little picky. First, she only inhabits maidens, which already puts us in a weird spot. Pardon me if this question is insensitive but… you're a guy, right?"

Percy's mouth opened in shock, "Wha—yeah of course."

"Right, right, just had to make sure. So that would seem to rule you out as a potential host. But even if you were a maiden, I would be able to spot any viable host."

"How so?"

Apollo pointed to his eyes with a smirk, "With these bad boys obviously." At Percy's unamused stare, the god leaned toward the fire to elaborate, "What I mean is, I've got pretty special vision. When I see mortals, I'm flooded with information about their connection to Fate. Or rather, I'm given a vague sense that lets me tell if a mortal will have an impact on others' Fate.

"I kinda look at a mortal and I can see a blob of interwoven string in their body. Think of it like a scale, where a normal mortal will have a miniscule impact on the big picture, a standard demigod will have a much greater impact, and a demigod of prophecy such as yourself will have a vast impact. The bigger the impact on the wider world, the less clear the blob in their body and the more interwoven strings."

Apollo paused to let Percy digest the information, but Percy motioned for the god to continue, "With potential hosts of the Oracle, it's different. It's crystal clear. Their purpose isn't to influence Fate, simply to be its arbiter. But you… you're about as far from clear as you can be. And your influence over the future pushes you firmly out of being some sort of Oracle."

"But if I can't be the Oracle's host, why am I seeing these visions?" Percy questioned, frustrated by the never-ending puzzle that was his own life, "What makes me special?"

"We can't know for sure," Apollo said, leaning back to relax after a night of revelations, "The best I can reason is that you are an anomaly in the passage of Fate. From what I can see, you will be pivotal in the future of Olympus. More than your peers, including my half-sister. Perhaps this means you are destined to be the Hero of the Great Prophecy. But you've already proven that you don't necessarily abide by the notion of destiny."

Percy shook his head in annoyance, "If I'm destined for anything, its that my life will be complicated as hell."

As the sun began to rise over the horizon of Long Island Sound, Apollo stood and stretched his body as if he had woken up from a long nap. As he stretched his arms, his body flashed briefly, making Percy avert his gaze, and a tall blonde surfer took the place of the grungy hobo.

"Well bro, it looks like my ride is here," Apollo said cheekily, giving the demigod a blinding white smile, "Just… if you see something bad, don't stop yourself from acting on your visions because you're wary of making it even worse."

The god's smile slowly disappeared as he continued, "One of the worst aspects of my vision is that the few times I come in contact with my children, I'm reminded of their impending mortality. To be unable to act because of the Ancient Laws… it's maddening."

Percy thought back to the morning, "Did you see something with Lee?"

"When a hero has a single hazy set of strings, it usually means one thing in their future…" Apollo trailed off.

Percy gathered a determined front as he made a decision, "Lord Apollo," he called to the god before he could leave, "I'll make a difference. If I ever see Lee… I'll change it."

Apollo's smile returned at his words, and the god waved goodbye before teleporting away in a burst of light.

* * *

**AN – Thank you for reading! It's been a while. Life happened and all.**

**I knew I was going to bring Apollo in to talk to Percy before I started writing this chapter, but at some point, I decided that it would be kinda funny to have him show up in the middle of Camp with the same disguise he uses later in Titan's Curse. If a pizzaman can wander through the border, who's to say a homeless dude can't chill out on the beach.**

**So yeah, hope you liked the fight between Percy and Zoe. I keep pushing it back but next chapter for sure will have CTF. I feel like at this point I need to go all out on that and make it live up to my accidental teasing.**

**Also, one thing that I recently learned was that one of the Fates' names (Atropos) translates to **_**the inflexible**_** which kind of ruins everything I laid out in Chapter 3 with how the Strings of Fate can be changed. So, if you're a big Greek Mythology nerd and that was bugging you, whoops. Let's just ignore it. It's fanfiction.**

**Review and tell me know what you think! Hope you are here for the next chapter!**


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